NEW YORK,NY — Kerry Bretz, a partner at Bretz & Coven,LLP, says the Supreme Court should have upheld, not shotdown, President Obama’s executive order on immigration. He says it could lead to the deportation of tens of thousands of immigrants who came in illegally, resulting in the breaking apart of immigrant families.
On November 20, 2014, the president issued an executiveorder to create a program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which would allow as many as five million illegal immigrants who are parents of citizens or legal permanent residents to apply fora program that would provide them with work permits and prevent them from being deported.
Soon after the program was announced, a group of 26 states led by the state of Texas filed a lawsuit accusing the president of not following the proper procedures when making the rule change and abuse of power when he sidestepped Congress with his executive action. In February 2015, the U.S. District Court in Brownsville, Texas ordered a preliminary injunction,which closed down DAPA. The Court ruled the Obama administration did not comply with the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal regulations are made. The government appealed but, on November 9, 2015, a three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, of New Orleans, Louisiana upheld the lower court.
On January 19, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a legal challenge to President Obama’s decision to overhaul the nation’s immigration rules and broadened the scope asking both sides to address the question of whether the Obama administration violated the constitutional requirement that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” On Thursday, June 23 the Supreme Court voted 4-4,upholding the lower-court ruling to block the plan.
“We are truly disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision,” Bretz says. “For years, Congress could not agree upon or put together any commonsense immigration reform. That is why the president had to issue an executive order. Sadly, the Court reached a deadlocked agreement, now,many immigrants will not be granted the work authorizations that would have reduced labor exploitation and provided them with financial stability for their families. ”
