PHOENIX — Raul Reynoso got a bonus when he renewed the federal work permit he received through President Obama’s 2012 program granting protection from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

He was expecting a two-year permit. Instead, his new permit doesn’t expire for three years, until 2017.

The 26-year-old Mesa resident didn’t even realize he got the extra year “until I actually saw somebody post on Facebook that they got it for three years. That’s when I looked at mine and I saw that it was also for three years.”

Reynoso was thrilled he got the three-year permit. Others weren’t.

Reynoso is one of more than 100,000 so-called “dreamers” who received three-year work permits under Obama’s executive actions on immigration before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the programs in February.

Now Reynoso and the other dreamers are caught a bitter legal dispute over whether the Justice Department intentionally misled the judge by failing to disclose that the government had already started issuing three-year permits to some dreamers.

The revelation, which came to light after Hanen issued his injunction, has further incensed 26 states, including Arizona, that have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Obama’s programs aimed at offering protection from deportation to an additional 4 million undocumented immigrants.

via 100,000 ‘dreamers’ could lose 3-year work permits.

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