17 states sue the federal government, agencies over Obama's immigration plan

17 states sue the federal government, agencies over Obama's immigration plan
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, 17 states, including Texas, Idaho, Kansas, and Wisconsin, sued the federal government and the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an attempt to thwart President Obama's executive action on immigration.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. "This lawsuit is not about immigration," state officials said. "It is about the rule of law, presidential power, and the structural limits of the U.S. Constitution."

Texas' Republican attorney general and governor-elect, Greg Abbott, announced the lawsuit in Austin, asserting that the president "is abdicating his responsibility to faithfully enforce laws that were duly enacted by Congress and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which he has no authority to do." The Obama administration says the president has prosecutorial discretion over which group of immigrants to deport, the Los Angeles Times reports.

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The other states participating in the suit are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.