A sharply divided federal appeals court put five deportation cases on hold Monday and asked the government how the immigrants, mostly longtime residents with U.S. citizen children, fit into the Obama administration's plan to focus on removing the most dangerous illegal entrants.
The unusual action came in a series of 2-1 rulings by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The dissenter, Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, issued identical opinions in each case saying the court had seriously overstepped its authority.
The orders appear to be the court's attempt to mesh its everyday review of immigration cases with the administration's plans to review, under its newly announced priorities, the cases of all 300,000 illegal immigrants who have been ordered deported or are in deportation proceedings.
The director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, issued a memo in June telling his agents that the priority list for deportations should start with convicted criminals, repeated illegal entrants and those with records of violence.
Morton said agents should consider such factors as an immigrant's U.S. family ties and hardships, length of residence, age on arrival, and prospects of winning legal residence in deciding whether to put their cases on hold.
Read More: Appeals Court Puts 5 Deportation Cases on Hold
