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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., found himself in the hot seat this week at a Nevada book signing after an activist called him out on immigration reform. The Las Vegas Sun reported Wednesday that Astrid Silva, commonly known as the poster child for President Barack Obama's recent executive actions protecting immigrants from deportation, stood up at Rubio's event and asked the potential 2016 presidential contender why he didn't support undocumented immigrants.

"I wanted him to see our faces," Silva told reporters in Spanish. "I told him, you could be the Latino communitys pride if you just supported this." Rubio publicly opposed Obama's decision last year to protect up to 5 million immigrants from deportation by expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and creating the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program.

The correct way to address immigration, Rubio told reporters Wednesday, is spelled out in his book "American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone." "Step one is to show the American people that were serious about bringing future illegal immigration under control, Rubio said. Step two is reforming our legal immigration system so that it works better, so that its less costly, more efficient and better for our country. Step three is dealing reasonably with the people that have been here a long period of time and have not otherwise violated our laws."

Rubio also said Wednesday that while he was against the impending Department of Homeland Security shutdown, Congress can't accept any version of the funding bill that finances Obama's immigration policies. The executive actions are unconstitutional, Rubio spokesman Alex Conant told Politico.

The senator appeared in Las Vegas on the same day applications for the president's expanded immigration policy were scheduled to open. A Texas judge halted the process late Monday by issuing a temporary injunction blocking the White House from implementing the program. The Obama administration has indicated it will appeal the ruling.

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Marco Rubio Immigration Reform: Las Vegas Immigrant Challenges Senator On His Opposition To Obama's Deportation Relief ...

Instead, Republicans say the ruling has united and emboldened them to stand firmly by their strategy of tying funding for the homeland security agency to efforts to kill Obama's executive action, and urged Senate Democrats who have blocked those efforts to heed the ruling.

"Hopefully, Senate Democrats who claim to oppose this executive overreach will now let the Senate begin debate on a bill to fund the Homeland Security department," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.

Obama immigration order temporarily halted by Texas judge

Boehner again repeated his claim that Obama took his executive action despite saying "22 times" before that he had no authority to take such action unilaterally. Obama had said he could not act unilaterally on immigration reform, but Democrats have argued the President was not referring to the type of actions he ultimately took.

The Obama administration said in a statement Tuesday that Obama's executive actions "are well within his legal authority" and that the Justice Department has indicated "that it will appeal that decision."

President Barack Obama said Tuesday he's confident that a Texas court's injunction against his executive order delaying deportations for millions of immigrants will ultimately be overruled, and is preparing to implement the order under that assumption.

"The Department of Homeland Security will continue with the planning because we want to make sure that as soon as these legal issues get resolved which I anticipate they will, in our favor that we are ready to go," he told reporters.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the ruling just an "interim step" in a legal process that will take some time to play out.

"This is a decision by one federal district court judge," Holder said Tuesday at the National Press Club, adding that the Justice Department is reviewing the ruling to determine the next step.

And Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement Tuesday he "strongly" disagrees with the judge's decision, but said his department would comply with the injunction while awaiting the results of an appeal.

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Hill GOP emboldened after immigration ruling

Every morning, Miguel Tapia Colin stands up at school to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. He wasn't born here, but he considers the star-spangled banner his. For Colin, 18, the U.S. is home -- a land of opportunities he'd never see in his birthplace of Huehuetln El Chico, Mexico -- and he wants it to stay that way. Under President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Colin plans to enroll at New York's Columbia University as a scholarship student in the fall to study political science.

"I consider myself part of this country," he said, praising Obama's policy. "It has been life-changing, but more than anything, it has been empowering."

Colin is one of the more than 700,000 immigrants who have applied for the deferred deportation program since its 2012 launch, and when he graduates, he'll join an estimated 225,000 undocumented students in U.S. colleges. Enrollment numbers have climbed in the past three years as immigrants received temporary deportation relief, sparking debate about whether states should give in-state tuition to immigrant residents who don't qualify for federal financial aid. Obama's latest actions are expected to increase undocumented students' access to higher education and renew the focus on state tuition laws aimed at helping immigrants pay for college.

"It's really the deciding factor for a student to be able to attend a four-year university or not," saidAndreaGaytan, the director of theAB540 and Undocumented Student Center at the University of California, Davis. "We're losing as a nation on a lot of talent and potential if we don't incorporate undocumented students into our educational system for higher ed."

In November, Obama announced his intent to broaden his 2012 initiative to include anyone who came to the U.S. as a child and has lived in the country since Jan. 1, 2010. DACA requires applicants to be currently in school, have a diploma or be a veteran, among other requirements. It can authorize them for driver's licenses and work permits, and for the majority of young applicants, the policy opens another door: college.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Obama's expanded immigration policy late Monday, but some schools are still preparing for an influx of undocumented students if the programs is implemented. At the University of California-Berkeley, enrollment more than doubled from 60 students during the first semester DACA was available, according to Meng L.So, the director of its Undocumented Student Program. Now, they have 380.

California is one of 20 states that offers residential immigrants in-state tuition rates, which often cut the cost of college in half. Since 2001, legislatures in Florida, New York, Texas and other states have passed laws affording undocumented students cheaper tuition if they attended state high schools and are working toward legal status. The efforts have ramped up in recent years, prompting controversy and increased enrollment.

Cost is a major barrier for undocumented students considering college, So said. Many of them have immigrant parents forced to work odd jobs under the table. In 2007, the annual household income for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. was $36,000, compared to the median income of $51,900 in 2013 for all Americans, according to the Pew Research Center. For a student paying out-of-state tuition, one year of college costs $22,203 on average.

Undocumented students often can't rely on their families for monetary support and have to put themselves through school. Even people covered under the 2012 policy are not eligible to apply for federal, and in many cases, state, financial aid.

California laws allow immigrants to apply for private scholarships and state aid. Gaytan credits those, as well as Obama's initiative, with the tripling of undocumented students at her university. Enrollment skyrocketed from 78 a few years ago to 290 now.

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Immigration Reform 2015: More Undocumented Immigrants ...

A day after Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the federal district court in Brownsville, Texas, issued an injunction preventing the Obama administration from implementing itsplan to delay deportation for millions ofundocumented immigrants, the statusof U.S. immigration policyis as confused and uncertain as ever. A few ideas about what might come next are in the links below.

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What's in Wonkbook:1) Policymakers respond to immigration ruling 2) Opinions, including Wolf on the dollar3) A surprising poll on gay marriage, and more

Number of the day: 11.4 million. That's how many people signed up for health insurance plans under Obamacare this year, according to the White House. The number will likely decline as the year progresses, as people leave their policies. Jason Millman in The Washington Post.

1. Topstory: Policymakers respond to immigration ruling

An appeal could take months. "President Barack Obama's administration faces a difficult and possibly lengthy legal battle to overturn a Texas court ruling that blocked his landmark immigration overhaul, since the judge based his decision on an obscure and unsettled area of administrative law, lawyers said. ... There was no consensus among lawyers with expertise in administrative law and immigration law on whether Hanen would be reversed on appeal. But they said the judge was wise to focus on an area of administrative law where legal precedent is sometimes fuzzy." David Ingram and Mica Rosenberg for Reuters.

Primary source: The opinion.

It doesn't look as though the opinion will resolve the debate in Congress over funding Homeland Security, as some had hoped. "Dont count on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to play dealmaker in the fight over Department of Homeland Security funding. The Kentucky Republican is under intense pressure from conservatives to hold the line against President Obamas immigration actions, and he shows no signs of backing down. ... McConnell could have seized on the injunction to push conservatives toward funding the DHS while the court fight plays out. The fact that he didnt, Senate Democrats say, is a sign that McConnell wont be coming to the negotiating table." Alexander Bolton in The Hill.

Much of Obama's agenda is now in the hands of the courts. "Along with the immigration action, the fate of two of Obamas other signature initiatives a landmark health-care law and a series of aggressive executive actions on climate change now rests in the hands of federal judges. It is a daunting prospect for a president in the final two years of his tenure who believes he is on the path to leaving a lasting impact on intractable and politically perilous issues, despite an often bitter relationship with Congress." David Nakamura and Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.

Here's what you need to know to understand the injunction. The Washington Post.

More:
Wonkblog: Heres whats next for immigration reform

Story highlights Ana Navarro: Judge's halt to Obama's executive actions on immigration reveal they were always a Band-Aid She says Congress must do its job and craft a bi-partisan fix to the hot, ugly mess of America's immigration policy

An executive action is a temporary and limited fix. On the night President Obama announced his most recent immigration executive action, I called it a Band-Aid.

Today, we found out, the Band-Aid may not stick.

In a case brought by 26 states, a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction halting implementation of the President's executive actions: the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (or DAPA) -- which would have granted work permits and extended deferred deportation status and expanded the the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.

What the immigration ruling means

This is just the beginning of the legal wrangling over this. At issue is whether President Obama exceeded his powers and tried to legislate. This is Congress' job, and the problem, to state the obvious, is that Congress is not doing it. For decades, Congress has been talking about fixing the broken immigration system. This has gone nowhere.

On the other side, you have mounting pressure on President Obama from an increasingly frustrated Latino community and Democratic base. He made pie-in-the-sky campaign promises offering immigration reform in his first year in office. In his first two years, he had a Democratic Senate and Democratic House. He had the chance to act. Instead, he sat on his hands as the problem continued to fester.

What's worse, as part of the fight over the immigration executive actions, the Congress is now playing a game of chicken with the Department of Homeland Security's appropriations bill, set to expire in a few days, insisting on amendments to the bill that would block Obama's immigration actions.

Hill GOP emboldened after immigration ruling

Lastly, add to this equation the reality of the millions of confused undocumented families whose lives and livelihoods are in the balance, and who have no idea how this is going to end. The truth is, none of us do.

Read more from the original source:
Fix this hot, ugly immigration mess