WH confident SCOTUS will uphold immigration actions

“I think we really need to crack down on the immigration”, said Gridley resident, Mark Bounds.

“We’re very pleased the Supreme Court chose to take the case”, said Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s executive director Eva Millona.

Even if the Supreme Court rules in the administration’s favor, the next president, who will be elected in November, has discretion to continue or terminate the executive orders.

The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program was meant to expand a program that applied to immigrants in the country illegally who had come into the United States as children.

Supreme Court Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli argued in court filings that if the lower court ruling is left undisturbed it will allow the states “to frustrate the federal government’s enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws”.

Now, the appeals process will bring it before the Supreme Court, which will have final say on the constitutionality of his action.

The battle pits the president against Congress and Republican governors, who are bringing the legal challenge.

If the court sides with Obama, he would have until his term ends in January 2017 to implement the immigration plan.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday, “We’ve got a lot of confidence in the legal arguments that we’ll be making before the court”.

The United States Supreme Court decided on Tuesday to consider the Obama administration’s controversial immigration program, which has been on hold for almost a year after a Texas-based federal judge blocked the measure.

The high court is expected to hear in the case in April and issue a ruling in June.

Texas and 25 other states sued to block the administration’s immigration plan.

The President’s actions allow eligible participants to obtain temporary lawful presence and apply for work authorization as well as some associated benefits.

“I have faith in our Supreme Court that they’ll actually follow the law, instead of the political battle that’s going on”, Wilson said.

Still, Democratic officials and immigrants’ advocates praised the court’s action.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Obama’s executive action relied on well-established constitutional authority. “These families must be allowed to step out of the shadows and fully contribute to the country that they love and call home”.

Bloomington has a large population of immigrants who came to the US illegally.

Obama said he was spurred to act on his own by Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive immigration legislation.

In 2015, Obama’s executive actions expanded a 2012 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and created the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, known as DAPA.