Obama administration appeals deportation relief to Supreme Court

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to reinstate President Obama’s deportation amnesty Friday, filing papers appealing a federal appeals court’s decision blocking the amnesty exactly a year after the program was first announced.

Although the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), which was supposed to shield over 4 million illegal aliens from deportation, is now waiting for a Supreme Court decision, the rest of President’s executive actions on the issue are rapidly moving forward.

While the centerpiece of the executive actions-expanded DACA and DAPA-remains tied up in litigation, the Administration can and should use its uncontested authority to continue refining enforcement priorities and improving the operations and functions of the visa system. There is only a brief period of time for the nine justices to agree to hear the case term.

Meanwhile, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Linda Sánchez said she and other Hispanic lawmakers will continue to “fight tooth and nail” to defend Obama’s executive actions but that ultimately “only Congress can provide real and lasting protections”.

Immigration advocates are hoping that the justices will take up the case and rule in favor of the president by June. The administration also said that they would expand the existing “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” program, or DACA, which does the same for a few undocumented young people who came to the U.S.as children.

“If the Supreme Court takes the case, I expect it will rebuff President Obama’s misreading of his powers under federal law and his refusal to execute the laws faithfully – his core constitutional responsibility”, said John Yoo, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley. Abbott, who now serves as governor of Texas, said Obama overdid his executive ability and it would have negative affects to the state.

The government appealed, and on November 9 a divided three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans affirmed the injunction. But instead, the appeals court’s 2-1 ruling went farther-the judges held that the administration lacked the legal authority for its actions, not just that it failed to follow procedural formalities. 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.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce whether they will hear the case in early 2016.

The drawn-out legal battle weighs heavy on the resolve of a community that has been fighting for immigration reform for the last several decades.

Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson said that law enforcement and customs agents now focus on convicted criminals, rather than hunt for people who came here to find work.