For Immediate Release // Excuse cross-posting // Please share // On-line at www.ndlon.org/en/pressroom
Date: February 17, 2015
Contact: SG Sarmiento, NDLON, 202-746-2099
NDLON Reaction to Initial Texas v US Decision: Judicial Vigilantism Will Not Slow Progress Toward Equality
(Los Angeles/Washington DC) In reaction to the recent decision by Judge Andrew Hanen, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), issued the following statement:
“Judge Hanen’s decision is an example of judicial vigilantism. We are confident it will be immediately overturned upon appeal. Unfortunately, in recent years we have become accustomed to Minutemen patrolling the border, racist sheriffs illegally criminalizing immigrants, talk show hosts questioning the President’s citizenship, and xenophobic lawmakers holding Congress hostage. The corrosive hijacking of government to pursue a nativist agenda should not, and most likely will not, be tolerated in federal courts.
“Even though Judge Hanen’s disregard for established precedent is alarming, we continue to have faith in the judicial process both as a vehicle to affirm the legality of the DAPA program, and as a venue to injustice. We have faith in the courts because we have no other choice. While scapegoating of immigrants by other branches of government has threatened to roll back bedrock constitutional and labor protections earned over generations, courts have offered refuge for the advancement of fairness, equality, and constitutional values. In the end, we are confident Judge Hanen’s regressive, polemical decision will be humiliated by history’s march toward progress.
“In the meantime, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that civil rights are upheld for immigrant workers and their families, and we will use all tools at our disposal in defense of our rights. We will continue organizing in order to make visible the intolerable injustice caused by maintaining the status quo. And as the legal battle continues, we call upon the President to take immediate steps using existing authority to protect immigrants.”
Jessica Karp Bansal, NDLON Litigation Director said, “It is no secret that this judge was handpicked for his staunch opposition to immigration relief. Today’s decision reflects politics, not law. It cannot be reconciled with binding legal precedent. We are confident that the Appeals Court will quickly determine that it has no legal merit, as did the only other court that considered a challenge to President Obama’s executive action. In the meantime, we will continue to use every avenue available to stop the suffering caused by mass deportations.”
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