Judge Andrew Hanen
Southern Texas U.S. District Court
Andrew Scott Hanen was born in December 1953 in Elgin, Illinois. He grew up in Waco, Texas. He earned an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Denison University and received his Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School. He clerked for the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court before entering into private practice.
He was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to be a U.S. District Judge, but the nomination lapsed. Ten years later, he was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He was confirmed by a 97-0 vote of the United States Senate and received his commission in May 2002.
He is married to Diane Dillard and they have one daughter.
In the News…
A nine-state coalition led by Texas urged a federal judge in Texas to invalidate a program that gives hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children the ability to live and work in America. During a court hearing before Judge Andrew S. Hanen that lasted more than three hours, the states argued that the program was not created lawfully by former President Barack Obama in 2012.
The program is known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Nearly 650,000 people benefit from the program, are protected from deportation, allowed to work, granted access to driver’s licenses, and in some cases receive access to financial aid for education.
The program has withstood a number of challenges including one at the U.S. Supreme Court in June that found President Trump’s attempt to end it “arbitrary and capricious” because it did not follow proper procedures. The Supreme court did not, however, rule on the overarching legality of DACA.
Judge Hanen has not yet ruled on the case, but he did ask what should be done for DACA recipients if, hypothetically, they found the program unlawful. An attorney representing Texas and the states said that the court was free to order a slow winding down of DACA, including allowing current recipients to keep their status until they expired.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Hanen today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Andrew S. Hanen
Southern Texas United States District Court
U.S. Courthouse
315 Rusk Street
Houston, TX 77002
