More than 150 community members protested Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller’s stance on President Obama’s immigration order, Feb. 19

LANSING— A lawsuit
signed by 26 Republican leaders nationwide has temporarily blocked immigration
orders signed by President Obama.

The immigration
orders would protect up to 4 million undocumented immigrants in the country
from deportation, including the sizable concentration in metro Detroit.

One of the orders
included an expansion of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
First introduced in 2012, it was expected to go into effect Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Republicans say
Obama exceeded his authority when issuing the immigration order.

Attorney General
Bill Schuette announced on Dec. 8 that he had joined the lawsuit, but he didn’t
get feedback from immigration supporters until this week. A statement issued by
his office read, “America has always been a beacon of hope. Our country needs
an immigration policy that is hopeful, encouraging and lawful. A federal judge
agrees that the president’s unilateral action is constitutionally flawed and
now the rule of law will get its day in court.”

The Obama
administration created the DACA program for undocumented immigrants brought to
the country as children. In order to apply for the program, an individual must
meet certain criteria including having a clean criminal record and graduating
from a U.S. high school. Those who are eligible could be protected from
deportation and apply for work permits. More than 600,000 immigrants have been
approved.

Texas Federal
Judge Andrew Hanan, who has a history of opposing the president’s immigration
polices, made the ruling to allow the lawsuit to move forward.

“They went
judge shopping. They got their judge, and they got the decision they wanted,”
said Marshall Fitz, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for
American Progress.

Many other
pro-immigration advocates believe Hanan was purposely chosen out of all federal
judges across the country, because of his history of making anti-immigrant
decisions.

“Make no
mistake, every single one of these Republicans have very few undocumented
immigrants in their state, so they have no business being in the courts trying
to block this,” Fitz said.

More than 150
community members poured into the district office of Republican U.S. Rep.
Candice Miller on Thursday to confront her about her position on immigration.

Miller is an
ardent opponent of comprehensive immigration reform and is actively working to
defund immigration actions like DACA.

One undocumented
Michigan resident, Priscillia Rodriguez, is hoping congress will pass
comprehensive immigration reform soon. 
She fled Venezuela fearing political prosecution.  Rodriguez takes particular offense of Miller
characterizing the undocumented as lazy criminals.  “What’s criminal,” Rodriguez said, “is the
way we are denied basic human rights.”

Diego Bonesatti,
the director of legal services at Michigan United, and Theresa Tran, executive
director of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, say the action is
only temporary and should not discourage undocumented immigrants from coming
forward to apply for DACA. Tran is encouraging undocumented immigrants to begin
preparing their paperwork to apply for DACA if they are eligible.

“It is a temporary
setback,” Bonesatti said. “It is not the end of these programs. We are
confident that the Obama administration is going to appeal this ruling.”

He said the
lawsuit will not impact the existing DACA program and that DACA
applicants should be able to renew their application.

“The impact
of this ruling will be that the DACA plus program, which was slated to take
effect Feb. 18, is going to be delayed and we don’t know when it will be
renewed,” he said.

Tran said 20
public education meetings with more than 2000 people have been held.

“The most
important thing for immigrants to realize is they should not panic,” she said. “Families
should be able to prepare paperwork. We want to be prepared for when they are.”

Shiu-Ming Cheer,
an immigration attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, also believes
the Texas court decision is temporary.

“Everyone
should continue to apply,” she said.

She said people
should not be discouraged from coming forward and applying because they are
undocumented.

Many pro-immigrant
advocates say the lawsuit was filed in an effort to prevent people from
applying.

The Department of
Justice is expected to move swiftly to try and defeat the lawsuit.

“They will
prevail in the courts,” Fitz said.

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