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Raul Reynoso, a 26-year-old “dreamer” from Mexico, was surprised to receive a three-year renewal of his federal work permit (right). His previous permit (left) was for two years.(Photo: David Wallace/The Republic)
PHOENIX — Raul Reynoso got a bonus when he renewed the federal work permit he received through President Obama's 2012 program granting protection from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
He was expecting a two-year permit. Instead, his new permit doesn't expire for three years, until 2017.
The 26-year-old Mesa resident didn't even realize he got the extra year "until I actually saw somebody post on Facebook that they got it for three years. That's when I looked at mine and I saw that it was also for three years."
Reynoso was thrilled he got the three-year permit. Others weren't.
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Reynoso is one of more than 100,000 so-called "dreamers" who received three-year work permits under Obama's executive actions on immigration before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the programs in February.
Now Reynoso and the other dreamers are caught a bitter legal dispute over whether the Justice Department intentionally misled the judge by failing to disclose that the government had already started issuing three-year permits to some dreamers.
The revelation, which came to light after Hanen issued his injunction, has further incensed 26 states, including Arizona, that have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Obama's programs aimed at offering protection from deportation to an additional 4 million undocumented immigrants.
In this Nov. 14, 2005, file photo, U.S. Southern District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, left, joins with Filemon B. Vela, Jr. and Blanca Vela for the Pledge of Allegiance during the U.S. Courthouse naming ceremony in Brownsville, Texas. Hanen temporarily blocked President Obama's executive action on immigration Feb. 16, 2015, giving a coalition of 26 states time to pursue a lawsuit that aims to permanently stop the orders.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Brad Doherty, AP)
Hanen, who oversees the U.S. District Court in Brownsville, Texas, issued the injunction Feb. 16, just before the first of Obama's new programs was set to begin accepting applications on Feb. 18.
Now Reynoso and the others may have to give back the three-year permits if Hanen determines the Obama administration violated the injunction by failing to tell the judge that the government had already started issuing three-year permits before Obama's executive actions were scheduled to start.
That could leave dreamers such as Reynoso to reapply for two-year permits, or it could leave them with no work permits at all.
"Absolutely ... it's something to be concerned about," said Reynoso, who works as an insurance agent and came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 6.
Obama announced on Nov. 20 that since Congress had failed to pass legislation reforming the nation's immigration system, he was going to use his executive authority to offer protection from deportation and work permits to about 4 million of the 12 million immigrants in the country illegally.
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The president's actions included expanding his 2012 program for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children by removing an age cap that limited the program to those under the age of 31. The actions also created a new program for undocumented parents with children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
The actions, spelled out in a memo issued by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, also said that effective Nov. 24, everyone approved for protection from deportation would receive three-year work permits instead of the two-year permits issued under the existing 2012 program.
Shortly afterward, Texas and 25 other states filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block Obama's programs from taking effect by arguing they were created illegally.
In the meantime, the government issued three-year work permits to 108,081 people, including Reynoso, from Nov. 24 until the injunction was issued. Those people had applied for protection from deportation under the existing program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
But Hanen didn't find that out until March 3, nearly two weeks after he issued his injunction, when Justice Department lawyers notified him in court papers.
The judge was furious. For weeks leading up to the Feb. 16 injunction, Justice Department lawyers had insisted that the government was not scheduled to start implementing Obama's programs until Feb. 18.
"So, like an idiot, I believed that," Hanen said during a testy court hearing March 19.
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Government lawyers contend it was simply an oversight. During the hearing, they told Hanen they were so focused on the start of the new deferred-action programs, they neglected to mention that the government had already started issuing three-year permits under the old program, which was not affected by Hanen's ruling.
But lawyers from the states want to know if the government intentionally withheld the information knowing that once the government started issuing three-year permits, it would be hard "to put the toothpaste back in the tube."
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They contend the states have already suffered "irreparable injury" because undocumented immigrants can use their three-year work permits to get driver's licenses that also last for three years. That's because driver's licenses are issued for the length of time a person who receives deferred action can remain lawfully in the U.S.
Hanen is expected to rule any day on a motion filed by the states, asking him to force the Justice Department to turn over documents to determine if the government intentionally misled the court.
The judge said he will also decide whether he will order the government to revoke the three-year permits if he determines the government violated the injunction.
"He could order the government to take back the three-year permits and reissue two-year permits. He could do nothing. Or he could revoke them altogether," said Nora Preciado, a lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy organization in Los Angeles.
Over 100 protesters stood outside the federal courthouse in Brownsville, Texas, on March 19, 2015, holding handmade signs and chanting in megaphones. The Justice Department might face sanctions if U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen determines its attorneys misled him about whether part of President Obama's executive action on immigration was implemented before being put on hold by the judge.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Yvette Vela, AP)
Hanen has already denied the Justice Department's request to lift the injunction and allow Obama's programs to go forward until the merits of the case can be decided. As a result, the Justice Department has filed a motion with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to lift Hanen's injunction.
Meanwhile, dreamers across the country are worried about losing their three-year permits.
"The question is, are they going to ask for our permits back?' said Cesar Espinosa, 29, a Houston resident who received a three-year permit in December after applying to renew the two-year permit he received in December 2012.
Espinosa said he was happy to receive a three-year permit because it costs $465 to apply for deferred action, and the longer permit means he won't have to worry about coming up with the money for an extra year.
He came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 4. He graduated from the University of Houston in 2012 with a degree in political science.
Espinosa is now the executive director of Fiel Houston, a non-profit organization that helps undocumented immigrants apply for deferred action.
"The even tougher question is: What are they going to do with those kids that they ask for their permits back? Are (we) going to have to resend it back so they can change it to two years?" he asked.
"For us it seems kind of like a waste of resources because you already produced cards and now you are going to have to reapply again."
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