Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/599880
ByBruceShipkowski TheAssociatedPress TRENTON, N.J. Pedals the bipedal bear can clearly stand on its own two feet — but activists in his northern New Jersey ter- rain wonder for how long. The bear, which gained fame after first being spotted last year ambling around neighborhoods and caught in videos that were posted on social me- dia and played on national television, apparently has some sort of leg or paw in- jury that won't allow it to spend much time on all fours, experts say. The question now is, how much should the state do to help one bear as hibernation and hunt- ing seasons near? Animal activists and state officials are at odds. Activists worry the bear's health has declined since last year and fear it might not survive a harsh winter, though forecasters say this winter will likely not be as cold as last. They doubt the bear can run, climb or defend itself, or even eat properly. They hope it can be moved to a sanctuary in New York, but New Jersey officials say more information is needed before a decision can be made. "We are not inclined to take (the bear) out of its natural habitat un- less there is a compelling reason for it," state De- partment of Environmen- tal Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said. "We need more information. We need to be able to as- sess its weight and its over- all physical condition." Complicating matters is that Pedals hasn't been heard from in nearly three weeks. State officials say that may mean the bear is off foraging on acorns somewhere — which would be a good thing. The activists, though, have vowed to continue their fight. They visited the New Jersey Statehouse and the state environmental of- fices on Tuesday to drop off petitions supporting relo- cation, and staged a small rally to raise awareness of Pedals' status. They say more than 290,000 people have signed the petitions. The debate over Ped- als' future comes ahead of a statewide bear hunt scheduled for Dec. 7-11 and an expanded hunt in 2016 that was recently approved in an effort to better con- trol the state's large bear population. Greg Macgowan, who shot a video of the bear, says it's common to see bears in the area, which lies beyond the suburban edge of Newark and New York City in one of the wildest areas of settled northern New Jersey. Activists hope Ped- als can be captured and placed at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otis- ville, New York. Center officials say that they are open to taking the bear in, and that funds have been raised to build a special en- closure for Pedals. DEBATE Abipedalbearflits in the woods, and activists fight state MELEVANS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Janine Motta, of Manalapan, New Jersey, stands with a sign in the rain as she and other animal activists renewed their calls for New Jersey officials to help ensure the welfare of a bear that walks upright. By Alicia A. Caldwell and Kevin Mcgill The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to save the president's plan to shield as many as 5 million immi- grants living in the country illegally from deportation, after lower courts blocked it. A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday up- held a Texas-based federal judge's injunction against President Barack Obama's plan. Obama has issued ex- ecutive orders to protect from deportation parents whose children are citizens or legal permanent resi- dents, along with other im- migrants who came to the country illegally as children. The Justice Department said Tuesday it disagrees with the 2-1 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals and would appeal to the high court. Republicans have crit- icized the plan as illegal executive overreach since Obama announced it last November. Twenty-six states challenged the plan in court. The administration ar- gued that the executive branch was within its rights in deciding to defer depor- tation of selected groups of immigrants, including chil- dren who were brought to the U.S. illegally. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the ruling. "President Obama should abandon his lawless execu- tive amnesty program and start enforcing the law to- day," Abbott said in a news release. "We strongly disagree with the 5th Circuit's deci- sion," the White House said in a statement. "The Su- preme Court and Congress havemadeclearthatthefed- eral government can set pri- orities in enforcing our im- migration laws." The ruling further dims prospects of implementa- tion of the executive action before Obama leaves office in 2017. Appeals over the in- junction could take months and, depending on how the case unfolds, it could go back to the Texas federal court for more proceedings. Justice Department spokesman Patrick Roden- bush said in a statement that the department "re- mains committed to taking steps that will resolve the immigration litigation as quickly as possible" so that the Department of Home- land Security can prioritize "the removal of the worst of- fenders,notpeoplewhohave long ties to the United States and who are raising Ameri- can children." Part of the initiative in- cluded expansion of a pro- gram called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, pro- tecting young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. ille- gally as children. The other major part, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for years. The 70-page major- ity opinion by Judge Jerry Smith, joined by Jennifer Walker Elrod, rejected ad- ministrationargumentsthat the district judge abused his discretionwithanationwide order and that the states lacked standing to challenge Obama's executive orders. They acknowledged an argument that an adverse ruling would discourage potential beneficiaries of the plan from cooperating with law enforcement au- thorities or paying taxes. "But those are burdens that Congress knowingly cre- ated, and it is not our place to second-guess those deci- sions," Smith wrote. In a 53-page dissent, Judge Carolyn Dineen King said the administration was within the law, casting the decision to defer action on somedeportationsas"quint- essential exercises of prose- cutorialdiscretion,"andnot- ing that the Department of Homeland Security has lim- ited resources. "Although there are ap- proximately 11.3 million re- movable aliens in this coun- try today, for the last sev- eral years Congress has provided the Department of Homeland Security with only enough resources to remove approximately 400,000 of those aliens per year," King wrote. EXECUTIVE ORDERS Obama appeals to Supreme Court to save his immigration agenda CAROLYN KASTER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE President Barack Obama speaks about immigration at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas. "The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws." — White House statement Catch the Gridiron Madness on our big screens! 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