Appeals Court Blocks Obama Immigration Plan

A New Orleans federal appeals court has blocked the Obama administration's plans to protect an estimated five million people living in the US illegally from being deported.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 5th US Circuit of Appeals upheld an earlier Texas federal judge's injunction which blocked the initiative on Monday.

Republicans have criticised the proposal as an illegal over-reach since it was announced by Mr Obama in November last year and some 26 states have challenged it in court.

John Scalise, the number three Republican in the House of Representatives, tweeted that the decision was "a major victory for the rule of law".

The administration has argued it is within its rights to defer the deportation of selected groups of immigrants, including children who were brought to the US illegally.

The ruling deals a blow to prospects of the plans being implemented before Mr Obama leaves office in 2017.

Appeals over the injunction could take months to resolve and it could go back to the Texas federal court for more hearings.

Advocacy group The National Immigration Law Center has urged the Obama administration to make an immediate Supreme Court appeal.

Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the organisation, said: "The most directly impacted are the five million US citizen children whose parents would be eligible for temporary relief from deportation."

Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said in a statement: "The department is committed to taking steps that will resolve the immigration litigation as quickly as possible in order to allow the Department of Homeland Security to bring greater accountability to our immigration system by prioritising the removal of the worst offenders, not people who have long ties to the United States and who are raising American children."

Part of the plan includes the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which protects young immigrants from being deported if they were brought to the US illegally as children.

The other part of the plan - Deferred Action for Parents of Americans - would extend deportation protections to the parents of US citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for years.

Judges Jerry Smith and Jennifer Walker Elrod rejected the Obama administration's arguments that the district judge had abused his discretion with a nationwide order.

But they acknowledged that their ruling would discourage potential beneficiaries of the plan from co-operating with authorities or paying taxes.