Supreme Court Reaches Tie in DAPA Case
Last Thursday the Supreme Court deadlocked in a 4-4 vote on Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration. The program, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), would have temporarily shielded millions of immigrants from deportation and allowed them to legally work.
The case began when Texas and a coalition of 25 states sued the Obama administration for circumventing Congress following the President’s 2014 announcement of the program. Texas also complained that DAPA would force the state to spend millions of dollars to provide driver’s licenses to immigrants.
The suit was brought before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals where a panel of three judges ruled that Obama had overstepped the bounds of his authority, particularly because he did not give notice or seek public comments on his program.
The tie in the Supreme Court last week means that the decision made by the lower court will be upheld, at least until a 9th justice is sworn in, at which point SCOTUS may decide to revisit the case. Regardless, the program is dead for the duration of Obama’s presidential term.
Immigrants and activists around the country are sorely disappointed by the outcome of the case. Many have vowed to keep fighting until comprehensive immigration reform is passed.
The President himself has said that Congress’s trajectory is unsustainable, and that a complete overhaul of the U.S. immigration system is only a matter of time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/us/supreme-court-immigration-obama-dapa.html?_r=0
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