The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on April 18 from 26 states
attempting to stop President Barack Obama’s executive orders on
immigration, potentially affecting millions of undocumented immigrants.
In November 2014, Obama’s executive action bypassed congressional
inaction to shield 4.3 million illegal immigrants from deportation and
grant them temporary worker eligibility. But states quickly challenged
the president, and a federal court blocked the programs in February
2015. After losing again at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the
Obama administration appealed to the Supreme Court to make a final
decision.
Republican governors and attorneys general make up most of the
plaintiffs in the case. They call Obama’s actions an overreach of
executive power and claim forcing states to accommodate the new programs
is unconstitutional. But without counter immigration reforms from
either party in Congress, the Supreme Court will determine the framework
of America’s future immigration policies.
Obama’s immigration executive orders began with the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA), signed in 2012 to allow immigrants who
entered the country as minors with their parents to pay a fee and apply
for new temporary assistance programs, as well as a guarantee against
deportation. In 2014, Obama tried to expand DACA with the Deferred
Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA),
which applies to illegal immigrants who have children born in the United
States. So far, more than 700,000 people have applied for DACA.
Texas, the lead plaintiff, argues the programs will cost millions of
dollars to subsidize driver’s licenses for immigrants enrolling in DAPA
and claims it is not the federal government’s role to put that burden on
individual states.
“Basically the president has stepped in and taken over what normally
would be associated with Congress,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
said, according to CNN. “Congress makes the laws.”
The Democrat-controlled Senate passed bipartisan immigration reform in
2013, but the legislation died in the Republican-controlled House. That
failure and the unlikely prospect of comprehensive reform in the near
future prompted Obama to opt for executive orders.
Legal scholars are divided on whether he has the authority to order
immigration officials to ignore, or delay implementing, federal law. But
Obama’s moves are not unprecedented: Former President George H. W. Bush
issued a similar order during his term, but on a much smaller scale.
Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian
Leadership Conference said on Saturday Obama’s actions are flawed, but
certainly within his power.
“It is fair to argue that the solution must come from Congress—and
indeed, eventually it must,” he said. “But politics’ stranglehold that
has blocked legislative solutions is not about to end. In the meantime,
we must have a better answer than an indefinite threat of deportation
for families trying to build better lives here.”
Rodriguez said he does not agree with everything in Obama’s programs,
but while Congress remains stagnant, it’s important to keep families
together until they have a long-term solution: “I pray that compassion
fills the hearts of our leaders in Congress, our president, and the
Supreme Court justices. Real people’s lives and futures hang in the
balance.”
Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Supreme Court during
arguments, shutting down the street in front of the building to support
Obama’s actions.
Dozens of protesters wielded pink heart-shaped signs that read “Keep
Families Together” while speakers blared Latin music and individuals
yelled chants on megaphones.
Louis Perez, of Silver Spring, Md., emigrated from El Salvador 20 years
ago. Now an American citizen, he joined protesters on Monday to
advocate for friends he knows will be affected if immigration reforms
unravel.
“This is a continuous fight, and it looks like our leaders have their
hands tied, but there is always something more they can do,” he told me
while carrying a 4-foot-tall sign that read “I am an American.” “They
should find the means to get people documented; it’s in the best
interest of the country. People need to have normal lives and be
productive members of society and not just live in the shadows.”
Perez said he was grateful for the large turnout to support immigrants
because many are afraid to show their faces publicly, uncertain of their
legal status in America.
Kasey Chavez, an immigrant from Peru and now an American citizen living in Fairfax, Va., had a similar message.
“People want to feel secure they can work and have a life with
dignity,” she told me. “Instead of being united, we are fighting against
each other.”
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision by June.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
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