Houston - A coalition of states suing to stop President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration is asking a federal judge not to lift a temporary hold on the directives.
The 26-state coalition, led by Texas, said in court documents filed on Tuesday with US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, that "there is no emergency need to institute" Obama's immigration action.
Hanen issued a preliminary injunction on 16 February that halted Obama's action, which could spare from deportation as many as five million people who are in the US illegally. The states sought the injunction, arguing that Obama's executive action was unconstitutional.