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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —
Texas will receive federal aid for the ongoing recovery from October storms that left six people dead.
The White House on Wednesday announced a major disaster declaration for 15 Texas counties that include Houston and Austin.
The declaration authorizes federal aid that includes temporary housing grants and loans to cover the loss of uninsured property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin taking online or telephone applications for assistance Thursday.
Storms and heavy rain flooded streets throughout Central and Southeast Texas. Houston police found two dead, one in a rain-swollen ditch and another in a wooded area where there had been water.
The counties under the disaster declaration are Bastrop, Brazoria, Caldwell, Comal, Galveston, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Hays, Hidalgo, Liberty, Navarro, Travis, Willacy, and Wilson.
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Texas asked the Supreme Court Monday for more time to answer the Obama administration's immigration appeal, a delay that probably would prevent the plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation from taking effect during Barack Obama's presidency.
If the justices agree to the state's request, the administration's plan would miss the court's informal deadline for a decision by the end of June. The plan that Obama unveiled a year ago mainly affects people who are living in the country illegally, but who have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Unless the court was to take the rare step of scheduling an argument in May, the issue would not be heard by the justices until the fall or decided before spring 2017.
The administration is opposing the request for a 30-day delay, Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said. "The case presents issues of national importance and the department believes it should be considered expeditiously," Rodenbush said.
It is not unusual for a party to request that a deadline be pushed back, and the other side often does not object.
But timing is everything in the immigration case.
If the court turns Texas down, agrees to hear the case and decides it by June, and if the justices side with the administration, that would leave roughly seven months in Obama's presidency to implement his plans.
Texas and 25 other states, almost all led by Republicans, sued in federal court to challenge the immigration plan roughly two weeks after it was unveiled. The states have won every round in court so far, including a Nov. 5 ruling from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Justice Department chose not to ask the high court to block those earlier rulings and allow the plan to take effect pending a final court decision in the case. On the other hand, the administration's allies said the appeals court effectively tried to run out the clock by taking much longer than usual to issue its opinion.
Dissenting Judge Carolyn Dineen King lent some credence to their complaint by taking note of "the extended delay that has occurred in deciding" the case.
IRVING, Texas (AP) —
Attorneys for a 14-year-old Muslim boy arrested after the homemade clock he took to his Dallas-area school was mistaken for a possible bomb said Monday he was publicly mistreated and deserves $15 million.
A law firm representing Ahmed Mohamed sent letters Monday demanding $10 million from the city of Irving and $5 million from the Irving Independent School District. The letters also threaten lawsuits and seek written apologies.
Ahmed took his clock to school in September, and an educator thought it could be a bomb. Ahmed was arrested but never charged. He was suspended from school.
"What has happened to this family is inexcusable," Kelly Hollingsworth, an attorney for Ahmed and his family, said in an email. "As indicated in the letters, the long term effects on Ahmed are incalculable."
Meribeth Sloan, a spokeswoman for Irving said the city is reviewing its letter and has no comment. The district didn't immediately return a message Monday.
The family accepted a foundation's offer to pay for Ahmed's education in Qatar and moved to the Persian Gulf country. He had visited Qatar during a whirlwind several weeks following the incident that even included a stop at the White House.
Hollingsworth said Ahmed and his younger siblings have found schools in Qatar, but his older sisters, who are 17 and 18, have not.
"Ahmed is very gratified by all of the support that he has received, but just like his siblings and his parents, he misses Texas. It is his home," Hollingsworth said.