The constitutionality of the Executive Actions issued by President Barack Obama as a result of the inaction of Congress to resolve a compromise on immigration reform will be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.
Immigration advocates and legislative analysts hope to see an opinion handed by the Justices sometime in June of 2016. As of early 2016, the docket of the Supreme Court was pretty crowded with cases that have resulted from challenges and other issues related to the Executive Actions. For this reason, the Court’s announcement has been welcomed by the Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group of Senators who presented the 2013 Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill.
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was very supportive of the Supreme Court’s decision to review CIR, and he immediately assigned political blame to Republicans in Congress, who have been successful in obstructing the voluminous bill and resisting compromise.
The Supreme Court will not have to delve too deep into why the Executive Actions were undertaken by the White House. Instead, the Justices will be able to jump straight into the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) sections. The Court will have to evaluate if President Obama’s decision to enact these two measures as a result of the CIR impasse was within the boundaries of the Constitution.
DAPA and Expanded DACA have a humanitarian basis insofar as they attempt to keep immigrant families together, and the same goes for President Obama’s attempts to slow the uncomfortable flow of deportations that have been taking place during his second term. There is public good to be found within the Executive Actions: granting relief to millions of undocumented immigrants by means of work permits and identification cards will allow immigration officials to streamline their processes, which is something that they have been hoping to do for years. There is also the added benefit of formally including hundreds of thousands of wage earners to the taxpayer rolls.
It is important to note that the Supreme Court will review a ruling by the Fifth Court of Appeals, which upheld a 2015 ruling against the Executive Actions. That ruling came from a District Court in Texas.
To understand how this ruling could potentially affect you, your loved ones, or your status in the country, turn to KS Visa Law, trusted immigration lawyers offering free immigration consultations in San Diego. Please call (858) 874-0711 today. We are here to help.
