Free Republic

Texas law barring state contractors from boycotting Israel violates firm’s free speech, federal judge rules Texas is one of more than two dozen states with laws that seek to limit boycotts, divestments and sanctions of Israel over its treatment of Palestine.Texas can’t forbid an engineering firm from boycotting Israel as part of its contract with Houston City Hall, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen on Friday stopped short of fully blocking a state law that prohibits government agencies from doing business with certain companies that boycott Israel. But his ruling said the free speech rights...

A Texas federal judge on Friday ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era policy that shields certain illegal immigrants from being deported, is unlawful and blocked new applications from being filed. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen argued that the policy goes against the Constitution because Congress never provided the executive branch authorization to grant deportation reprieves to illegal immigrants in the United States. DACA, which was established in 2012 by President Barack Obama’s administration, has granted an estimated 800,000 individuals protection. After arguing that the Department of Homeland Security violated the Administrative Procedure Act, Hanen ruled...

On Friday, a federal judge in Texas blocked an Obama-era program protecting undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children from deportation, halting the program’s ability to accept new applicants and once again throwing the lives of more than 600,000 people into tumult.In his 77-page opinion, district court Judge Andrew Hanen concluded that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, is unlawful because it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs federal rulemaking, by evading the normal “notice and comment” process in adopting new rules.Hanen’s decision doesn’t immediately affect the 616,030 people, often known as DREAMers, who...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas on Friday declared illegal the federal program that has allowed nearly 800,000 young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children avoid deportation and remain in the country. U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, said the Obama administration failed to follow federal administrative rules in launching the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012. But he put the effect of most of his ruling on hold while the case is appealed.

HOUSTON — Harris County's drive-thru votes will not be thrown out, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled on Monday morning. It was a waiting game over the weekend for the fate of nearly 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru polling locations in the Houston area during early voting. A federal hearing was scheduled for Monday morning to rule on those votes with less than 24 hours until the polls open for Election Day. A conference call was set up for reporters to be able to listen in to what's being discussed at the federal courthouse, but many reported technical issues as...

Escalating its constitutional battle with a federal judge over the ethics of government lawyers in the major test case on presidential power over immigration, the Justice Department late Friday night asked a federal appeals court to swiftly nullify the judge’s order of sanctions. In a massive filing of nearly four hundred pages, the department also asked that the judge’s order be put on hold while it is being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. This new conflict between the Obama administration and U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Brownsville, Texas, is separate but related...

A federal judge has wrongly prevented "lawful, commonsense policies" from taking effect by blocking President Barack Obama's executive action that seeks to shield millions of immigrants from deportation, the White House said Wednesday. The administration released a statement criticizing U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's decision to keep a temporary hold on the president's policies. The U.S. Department of Justice had asked Hanen to lift the stay, but the Texas judge refused in a ruling late Tuesday night. Hanen initially granted a preliminary injunction on Feb. 16 at the request of 26 states that oppose Obama's action. The states, led by...

Federal judge refuses appeal to let deportation halt continue, relying on Obama’s own words President Obama’s new deportation amnesty will remain halted, a federal judge in Texas ruled Tuesday night in an order that also delivered a judicial spanking to the president’s lawyers for misleading the court. Judge Andrew S. Hanen, who first halted the amnesty in February, just two days before it was to take effect, said he’s even more convinced of his decision now, particularly after Mr. Obama earlier this year said he intends for his policies to supersede federal laws. Judge Hanen pointed to Mr. Obama’s comments...

US Federal Judge Andrew Hanen is of the US District Court in Brownsville, Texas and was appointed by George W. Bush, has issued an injunction against the President until the case has made it's way through court. Twenty-six states have filed this case stating that the President have over stepped his authority on immigration action. These are Republican held states. The injunction was just filed yesterday. http://www.scribd.com/doc/255994877/Memorandum-Opinion-And-Order-Texas-v-United-States Judge Hanen said in the ruling according to Huffington Post: that the 26 states who brought the suit had standing to do so, and indicated he was sympathetic to their arguments. In December,...

A judge in Texas has issued an injunction temporarily blocking President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration that has drawn opposition from 26 states across the nation. *snip* But United States District Judge Andrew S. Hanen said Monday that the Obama administration had failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act. He ordered a halt to the implementation of the measures until he has weighed the full merits of the case.

A federal judge in Texas has ordered a halt, at least temporarily, to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, siding with Texas and 25 other states that filed a lawsuit opposing the initiatives. In an order filed on Monday, the judge, Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, prohibited the Obama administration from carrying out programs the president announced in November that would offer protection from deportation and work permits to as many as five million undocumented immigrants. The first of those programs was scheduled to start receiving applications on Wednesday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Monday night that a federal judge has “granted” his request to “halt” President Barack Obama’s “Executive Amnesty Order” across the country. Abbott didn’t immediately offer any other details, but promised for information later. BREAKING: Federal Judge just granted my request to halt Obama's Executive Amnesty Order Nationwide. More later. #txlege #tcot @TexasGOP — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 17, 2015

The states challenging President Obama’s deportation amnesty have already won the first round in court after the case landed in the lap of Judge Andrew S. Hanen, a Bush appointee who issued a scorching rebuke to the Department of Homeland Security last year, accusing it of refusing to follow border security laws. It could hardly have been a worse outcome for Mr. Obama, who, in order to preserve his policy, will now have to convince a judge who is on record calling his previous, less-extensive nondeportation policies “dangerous and unconscionable.” Led by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the 20 states...