Thread: Obama to seek Supreme Court ruling on immigration actions

November 10, 2015, 11:34 am

Obama to seek Supreme Court ruling on immigration actions

By Jordan Fabian


Getty Images

The Obama administration announced Tuesday it plans to file an appeal to the Supreme Court of a ruling that blocks the president’s executive actions on immigration.

The decision comes less than one day after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided to keep an injunction in place that has prevented the programs from taking effect.
“The department disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s adverse ruling and intends to seek further review from the Supreme Court of the United States,” Department of Justice spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement.The administration’s decision was widely expected, and sets up a potential high-stakes court battle over Obama’s immigration policies in the midst of an election year.

Immigrant-rights advocates and the White House see a favorable high court decision as the last hope for the programs to begin before President Obama leaves office.
By making a swift decision to appeal, the administration increased the likelihood the Supreme Court will be able to take up the case during its current term, which ends next June.

Once the Justice Department files a petition for the high court to hear the case, Texas and 25 other states suing over the programs will have 30 days to file an opposition brief.

It's unclear whether the justices will decide to hear the case; they must vote by mid-January to ensure a decision is made in the current term.

Supporters of the president’s immigration policies predicted the Supreme Court would rule in their favor.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the 5th Circuit’s decision a “political move that ignores past precedents on executive action on immigration.”

“I have every confidence that the Court will find the actions lawful,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), one of the strongest advocates for immigration reform in Congress, said the Supreme Court “is on the clock.”

“The foot dragging of the lower courts to try and run out the clock has delayed justice, but the law and common sense are so clearly on the President’s side that it is only a matter of time before these deferred action programs are fully implemented,” Gutiérrez said in a statement.

After an immigration reform bill died in Congress, Obama last November announced up to 5 million illegal immigrants would be eligible for deportation reprieves and work permits if they met certain conditions. The program would apply to parents of U.S. citizen children and legal residents.

Obama also expanded the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants relief to young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Republicans slammed the initiatives as executive overreach and a group of GOP-run states, led by Texas, sued to block them in federal court.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit sided with the states. The two judges, both GOP appointees, ruled that Obama did not have the legal authority to unilaterally hand down sweeping new rules governing who can and cannot be deported.

U.S. immigration law “flatly does not permit the reclassification of millions of illegal aliens as lawfully present and thereby make them newly eligible for a host of federal and state benefits, including work authorization,” wrote Judge Jerry Smith, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan.

“Today, the Fifth Circuit asserted that the separation of powers remains the law of the land, and the president must follow the rule of law, just like everybody else,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Monday.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest slammed the 5th circuit ruling Tuesday, arguing that keeping Obama's programs on ice “results in more families being torn apart.”

“We obviously continue to believe strongly in the legal power of the arguments we have been making for more than a year now about the importance of giving our law enforcement officials discretion to implement our immigration laws in a way that focuses on those who pose a genuine threat to our national security or our communities," he told reporters.

- This story was last updated at 1:30 p.m.

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I remember Obama making some statement earlier in the year that they would not appeal the decision.

Obama's illegal amnesty heads to Supreme Court

Uh Oh, Obama would not take it to the Supreme Court unless he has an angle to win and that angle is probably the dirt they have on Judge Roberts to get him to vote with the Democrats like he has on the last few important rulings.

W

Originally Posted by Captainron

I remember Obama making some statement earlier in the year that they would not appeal the decision.

Justice won’t appeal amnesty injunction to Supreme Court

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times - Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Justice Department said Wednesday it would not petition the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a ruling this week upholding an injunction against President Obama’s deportation amnesty, as the administration looks for a path forward on the issue in the courts.

The Justice Department said it would instead focus its efforts on an upcoming hearing on the merits of Mr. Obama’s executive actions themselves, which have come under withering political and legal scrutiny since the president rolled them out in November 2014.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to lift an injunction against Mr. Obama’s deportation amnesty, upholding a ruling from District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, who halted the program Feb. 16, two days before it was to begin accepting applications.

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SEE ALSO: Federal appeals court deals blow to President Obama’s amnesty

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In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court said the dangers of letting the program go into effect now then having to halt it in the middle were too great.

Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said the department would not seek a stay of Tuesday’s ruling and will now focus on defending the merits of the president’s actions in a hearing before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the week of July 6.

“The Department of Justice is committed to taking steps that will resolve the immigration litigation as quickly as possible in order to bring greater accountability to our immigration system by prioritizing deporting the worst offenders, not people who have long ties to the United States and who are raising American children,” Mr. Rodenbush said in a statement to The Associated Press. “The department believes the best way to achieve this goal is to focus on the ongoing appeal on the merits of the preliminary injunction itself.”

Opponents of the amnesty had already predicted such an appeal to the high court was unlikely to be successful anyway.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had said Wednesday that a likely Supreme Court rejection of such a request would be just the beginning of a long process that will keep the program tied up in courts for some time.

“It would be highly unusual for the United States Supreme Court to grant the Obama administration’s request and allow this executive order to go into place while we are still litigating it,” Mr. Abbott said on Fox News.

The thought of a drawn-out court battle is an unwelcome prospect for Mr. Obama, whose agenda in his final years in office is tied to unilateral action on issues such as immigration and climate change, where he says he’s battling an intransigent Congress.

Texas and 25 other states are suing over Mr. Obama’s Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, announced in November 2014, that would shield millions of illegal immigrants from the threat of deportation.

Tuesday’s ruling halted that program, but left in place a 2012 policy, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), that applies to so-called Dreamers, or young adult illegal immigrants usually brought to the U.S. as children.

The appeals court’s ruling drew fire from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, who has said she’d like to go even further on the issue if elected to the White House.

“5th Circuit is wrong on immigration. @POTUS followed precedent, took steps for families when GOP House wouldn’t. Must continue the fight. -H,” Mrs. Clinton tweeted.

But Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, fired back by tweeting in response: “Amnesty is wrong for America and for the rule of law. Especially when done by illegal executive fiat.”

Much of the declared and prospective GOP presidential field has pledged to reverse Mr. Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration if elected, even former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has voiced support for a path to legalized status for the millions of illegal immigrants living in the country.

⦁ This article is based in part on wire service reports.

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