Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The brief supports the U.S. Department of Justice in defending President Trump’s executive order on immigration. A judge on the 9th Circuit called for the en banc court to stay a decision by three of its judges that upheld a temporary restraining order blocking key provisions of the order.
Attorney General Paxton’s brief demonstrates that the president’s immigration order is a lawful exercise of congressionally delegated executive power over foreign affairs and national security.
“The law makes it very clear that the president has discretion to protect the safety of the American people and our nation’s institutions with respect to who can come into this country,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The safety of the American people and the security of our country are President Trump’s major responsibilities under the law.”
Statutory authority for the president’s executive order on immigration is expressly provided for in 8 U.S. Code § 1182, which states: “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”