Late yesterday, a federal district judge in Texas, Andrew Hanen, ordered at least a temporary halt to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, following a lawsuit opposing the actions filed by Texas and 25 other states. Yesterday’s ruling will prohibit up to 270,000 undocumented immigrations across the nation who were brought to the United States as children from being able to start applying for deportation protection under a new program that was scheduled to begin this week under the President’s executive actions announced in November. Another broader program is scheduled to launch in May. Judge Hanen’s decision to temporarily halt the programs while he makes a final decision in this case was based on his opinion that the states satisfied the minimum legal requirements to bring their lawsuit. This latest development may have implications for the current stalemate in Congress on passing appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the judge’s action could take some pressure off congressional Republicans from preventing the Obama Administration’s executive actions. The short-term continuing resolution currently funding DHS expires on February 27.