A group of illegal immigrants have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanding that deportations be halted until President Barack Obama clarifies his amnesty plans,
The Washington Post reported.
The
National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the advocacy group behind the lawsuit, wants deportations frozen and the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program expanded.
The group had
filed a petition in February with DHS demanding the "temporary suspension of deportations for the millions of undocumented immigrants who would likely benefit from near–term congressional action on immigration."
It says DHS has a legal obligation under the Federal Administrative Procedure Act not to ignore its pleading.
"What the law says is, they have to respond in a reasonable amount of time," according to National Day Laborer Organizing Network attorney Jessica Karp Bansal. "In a case like this where peoples' lives are at stake, nine months is clearly unreasonable," the Post reported.
The president has promised executive action before the end of 2014 if Congress does not act, and the lawsuit is aimed at pushing the administration forward.
"This point is an important moment to push for action because the administration has made so many statements that they're going to act, but they keep delaying and delaying," said Thomas Fritzche, another attorney involved in the case.
Leading up to the midterm elections, members of the network heckled Obama on several occasions as he campaigned for Democratic candidates, calling on him to stop deportations of illegal immigrants,
Politico reported.
The group complained in its petition that the rate of deportations "has skyrocketed" to nearly 2 million expulsions, "with more deportations occurring in the past 10 years than in the previous 110 years combined."
Homeland Security did not comment on the lawsuit, the Post reported.
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