Although a president’s executive power authority is not the ideal way to resolve weighty questions of immigration policy, President Barack Obama felt compelled to fill the vacuum created by congressional inaction on immigration.
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In a volley of press releases, politicians and state officials on both sides of the aisle issued statements in the divisive debate over immigration reform. “It’s as if … the president is setting the policy and the Congress is executing it”, he said. He said 4 million people is a lot of people and it seems that to give them quasi-legal status should be a legislative decision, not an executive decision.
But the supreme court’s decision on DACA and DAPA could help many undocumented immigrants live without fear, at least for a short while.
The protection from deportation is “discretionary, temporary, and revocable relief from the daily fear that they will be separated from their families”, said Thomas Saenz to the court, arguing on behalf of three mothers who have USA -citizen children.
In making his case, Verrilli asserted that the state of Texas should not be allowed to challenge the president’s actions by claiming it would cost the state money to give driver’s licenses to the millions of immigrants affected by the federal policy.
Unauthorized immigrants and community activists in San Diego County held onto hopes Monday that a Supreme Court ruling in a high-stakes immigration case will come down in their favor, though indications show the justices appear to be deadlocked on the issue. The programs would apply to parents of children who are US citizens or living in the country legally.
“There’s definitely a possibility that the next administration could do away with the childhood arrivals program or do something to stop DAPA”, said Mohammud Abdollahi, an immigration advocate.
There is little doubt that Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, would have sided with the liberals in this case if he had been confirmed.
A Texas court blocked the expansion, though, and more than half the states (including North Carolina) joined suit challenging the President’s authority.
A 4-4 ruling is possible because there are only eight justices following February’s death of conservative Antonin Scalia.
Texas has more immigrants who might be affected than any other state in the country. The Obama administration says it has the right to prioritize who to deport.
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If the Supreme Court throws out the case, Americans and politicians will have made no further progress on the question of undocumented immigrations.
