On Monday, in a 2-1 vote, a panel of judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, ruled against two key administration measures created to prevent the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants.
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Justice spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement that the White House “remains committed to taking steps that will resolve the immigration litigation as quickly as possible”.
The administration could ask for a re-hearing by the full 5th Circuit but the National Immigration Law Center, and advocacy group, urged an immediate Supreme Court appeal. “Whatever else the Obama Administration is working on today, I hope they are immediately appealing this decision to the Supreme Court so that we have swift resolution”, Gutiérrez said in a statement Tuesday.
The initiatives under scrutiny include expanding the eligibility for the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the creation of a Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program through a 2014 executive order. “The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws”, said the unnamed source who was not authorized to comment.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Obama administration overstepped its legal authority with the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, which would let about 4 million undocumented immigrants stay in the country.
There are almost 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States. That plan was challenged by 26 states, led by Texas.
Cornell Law professor Stephen Yale-Loehrer said in an email that the ruling “flies in the face of several Supreme Court precedents granting the executive branch broad, nearly unlimited, power on immigration policy issues”.
The decision to take the executive action to the high court drew praise from Latino advocates.
Texas and 25 other states filed a lawsuit to block President Barack Obama’s executive order. As such, Obama is “merely moving them to the back of a very long line of potential deportees”, not granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, The Christian Science Monitor’s Warren Richey wrote in November 2014.
“Congress must take action to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and voters must make their voices heard at the ballot box”, Sanchez said.
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Bernal explained that her mother hasn’t been able to adjust her immigration status, not even by having one of her USA citizen children petition for her, because she entered the country illegally.
