The protesters demanded the implementation of U.S. President Barack Obama’s immigration relief programs, including the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, during the protest.
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The appeal injects the Supreme Court into a dispute between 26 mainly Republican-led states and the Democratic administration, amid a presidential race in which immigration already has been a flashpoint.
Republicans have bitterly opposed the program, accusing President Obama with executive overreach and granting amnesty to lawbreakers. Together, the initiatives are estimated to provide a temporary haven for up to 5 million immigrants, including 79,000 in the Bay Area.
Shortly after Obama had announced his immigration executive actions, then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit to stop the deferred action programs.
The administration lawyers are asking the court to move quickly and to grant the appeal in January so the case can be argued and decided by June. The nation’s highest court must now decide whether to hear the case and overturn a lower court’s ruling earlier this month.
Lower courts have blocked the plan, released in November 2014 in a series of executive actions by Mr. Obama on immigration policy. “It is very disappointing that Speaker Ryan has said he will not pursue comprehensive immigration reform for the rest of the 114th Congress, and I strongly urge him to reconsider”. The announcement today paves the way for the Supreme Court toput the remaining legal questions to rest so that over 5 million United States citizen children can finally have stability and be free from the fear that they will one day be separated from their parents.
Judge Jerry E. Smith, writing for the majority, said the states had standing to challenge the program, citing a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said MA and other states were entitled to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its refusal to regulate motor-vehicle emissions contributing to climate change. 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. Twenty-six states challenged the plan in court.
Gathering on the plaza of San Jose City Hall, about 100 people called for unblocking federal programs to temporarily protect both young and old from deportation.
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“We hope that the Supreme Court will actually take this opportunity to bring to an end, and give hope to 11 million immigrants who have living now in the shadows”, said Elsa Caballero, president of SEIU Texas.
