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United States v. Texas Under Review at Supreme Court

Posted on Jun 20 2016

Source: The Politic

The Supreme Court will soon determine the constitutionality of President Obama’s 2014 executive actions around immigration, likely by the end of the week of June 20th or the beginning of the week of June 27th. 

 

In November 2014, President Obama announced a series of administrative actions related to immigration. One proposal expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for unauthorized youth who had entered the United States before the age of 16, and a second action, called Deferred Action for Parents of Childhood Arrivals (DAPA), would defer the deportation of certain parents with children who are U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). The implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA is currently stalled pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The original DACA program will remain in effect, regardless of the upcoming decision.

 

ILCM joins with 136 law professors in asserting that President Obama’s executive actions were within the legal authority of the executive branch. ILCM, along with many other organizations nationwide, have advocated for the Supreme Court to accept the case and subsequently to side with the President’s position in an amicus brief.

 

If the Supreme Court does allow the expanded DACA and DAPA programs to move forward, as many as five million parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents and DREAMers could obtain temporary protection from deportation and apply for work permits. Data from ILCM’s Deferred Action clients demonstrates the impact of DACA on immigrant lives: Seventy-percent of DACA recipients obtained a new or different job, almost three-quarters were making more money than before, and percentage increases of individuals with a bank account, healthcare, and government IDs were 25% and 50%, respectively. In addition, 88% of DACA recipients reported securing a state identification card, and 63% reported securing a driver’s license. Overwhelmingly, DACA recipients report the sentiment that “Now, I feel like I belong.”