After Scalia’s Death, Supreme Court Decision on Immigration Up In the Air
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FEATURING JESSICA KARP-BANSAL – Eight Supreme Court justices on Monday heard arguments in a seminal case on immigration. The case has been brought by 26 states, led by Texas, to gut two executive orders that President Obama signed.
The orders in question are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and the subsequent Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). Republicans claim that the President does not have the authority to create the modest measure of temporary relief that the two programs offer to millions of undocumented immigrants.
What no one counted on when this case began, was the recent death of conservative Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans, who are leading the anti-immigrant charge, are also blocking Obama’s appointment of a new justice.
Meanwhile, thousands of immigrants and their advocates gathered in front of the Supreme Court on Monday to urge justices to rule in favor of DACA and DAPA.
Find out more at www.ndlon.org.
Jessica Karp-Bansal, litigation director at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NLDON).