Last week, a federal appeals court struck down the President’s controversial executive order. They held a press conference outside the Los Angles City Hall, along with other local groups, to highlight testimonies of undocumented immigrants who would benefit from the deportation relief programs that Obama announced as part of his executive actions on immigration past year.
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Republicans have bitterly opposed the program, accusing President Obama with executive overreach and granting amnesty to lawbreakers.
If the high court agrees to hear and decide the case by late June, and if the justices side with the administration, that would leave roughly seven months in Obama’s presidency to implement his plans.
In its appeal, the Obama administration maintained that the states have no legal grounds to challenge the action. The court’s ruling, which Obama has said he will appeal, was not only short-sighted but the cruel and inevitable result of shameful inaction by Congress on the issue.
“The court of appeals judgment enjoins nationwide a federal policy of great importance to federal law enforcement, to many states and to millions of families with longstanding and close connections with this country, ” the administration argued in court documents. The immigrants affected are mainly the parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said groups will be prepared to submit amicus briefs in support of the administration in order to do as much as possible to expedite the process. Until then, Texas, who is state leading the lawsuit against the administration, has 30 days to respond on the immigration issue this current term. Unlike President Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which provided more than 3 million undocumented immigrants with citizenship, Obama did not guarantee a similar pathway to those who live and work in the shadows.
A New Orleans-based federal appeals court said in a 2-1 vote that the states could challenge the plan because it would cost them millions of dollars.
“It [the challenge] will force millions of people – who are not removal priorities under criteria the court conceded are valid, and who are parents of USA citizens and permanent residents – to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families”, the solicitor general, Donald Verrilli, wrote in the filing.
The measures include reform of immigration policies in a broader context. For instances, spouses of immigrants that have work permits can also find jobs in the USA, foreign college students that study technology or science in the nation’s universities can stay and find a place to work in the US, spouses and children of legal immigrants will no longer be deported to their countries while they seek legal status.
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Until now, the women had been blocked from directly participating in the case after a district court judge in Texas ruled they could not intervene.
