White House Asks SCOTUS to Rule on Immigration Program

The Obama administration Friday formally requested the U.S. Supreme Court review a lower court decision that blocked an executive action by President Barack Obama protecting millions of undocumented immigrants from being deported, Reuters reported.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently upheld a February injunction by federal Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas, who said key parts of Obama’s immigration plan couldn’t take effect until the courts sorted out a lawsuit filed by 26 states objecting to the plan. He announced a program called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA, that would allow undocumented parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents who qualify to apply for protection from deportation and work permits.

Twenty-six states, led by Texas, are challenging the actions arguing that the President exceeded his authority. The USA 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has subsequently ruled to keep to program from being implemented.

If they hear the dispute, it would become one of the centerpiece cases of the court’s term that runs through June, along with a challenge to a restrictive Texas abortion law. Now, the Obama administration promises to take the issue to the Supreme Court, following this most recent court battle.

The programs would shield from deportation about five million undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S.as minors and who have children who were born in America.

“If left undisturbed, that ruling [of the appeals court] will allow States to frustrate the federal government’s enforcement of the Nation’s immigration laws”, the Justice Department argues in its petition to the Supreme Court.

A Spanish-speaking Latino introduces Jocelyn Guzman, accenting her surname, “goose-mAn”, and beacons her to a podium in in front of City Hall and steps lined with Korean and Latino activists from a coalition of immigration and labor groups. The states had also raised a constitutional challenge to the policy, but the lower courts opted not to rule on it. The announcement today paves the way for the Supreme Court toput the remaining legal questions to rest so that over 5 million USA citizen children can finally have stability and be free from the fear that they will one day be separated from their parents.

Instead, the White House said it wanted to work with Congress on potential tweaks to the visa waiver program, calling it a “fruitful area for possible bipartisan discussion”. If it doesn’t accept the case by January, it may not be decided before the end of Obama’s time in office.

If the Court does confirm a right for the states to have sued, it presumably would then move on to decide whether the deferred-deportation policy was likely ultimately to be found illegal. Continuing to hold up DAPA hobbles the national economy because it keeps people from working on the books and wastes the time of law enforcement officials, Becerra added.