Obama vows to defend immigration policies

U.S. President Barack Obama struck a combative note Tuesday to defend his controversial immigration policies under dual pressure from a hostile Congress controlled by the Republican party and a federal court injunction that put his deportation-relief program on hold.

In an article published in Washington-based news website The Hill Tuesday, Obama vowed not to relent his defense for his executive order on immigration which would shield as many as 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation, a move criticized by his Republican rivals and even some Congressional Democrats as power overreach.

"Make no mistake, I disagree with this judge's ruling," wrote Obama. "My administration will fight this ruling with every tool at our disposal, and I have full confidence that these actions will ultimately be upheld."

The ruling Obama mentioned refers to a court injunction made by U.S. Texas District Judge Andrew Hanen last week, which temporarily blocked Obama's immigration program on the eve of its launch. The Justice Department on Monday said it had asked judge Hanen to issue an emergency stay on his injunction while filing a formal motion to appeal Hanen's ruling.

Judge Hanen's injunction came at a time when U.S. Senate was stuck at a gridlock on a House-passed funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, in which House Republicans inserted measures to roll back Obama's immigration policies unveiled in 2014.

Democrats Senators have so far blocked the debates of the bill on the Senate floor four times in the past three weeks by filibusters.

"It was my hope that a new, Republican-led Congress would seek to govern responsibly," wrote Obama, stressing that he will fight any attempt to turn back the process his administration has made on fixing America's "broken immigration system." Endite