US President Barack Obama’s administration on Tuesday asked the US Supreme Court to uphold measures shielding about 4 million undocumented migrants from deportation.
Thrusting the country’s top court into the position of arbiter in a charged political row, the US Department of Justice said it would challenge lower court rulings that blocked Obama’s efforts to reform immigration policy.
A year ago, Obama tried to bypass US Congress by ordering government agencies to focus on deporting serious criminals, rather than undocumented immigrants who live and work in the US.
US Republicans and Democrats agree that sweeping immigration reform is long overdue, but bitterly disagree about how to do it.
Conservatives — in the throes of next year’s election cycle — reacted furiously, saying the president had effectively granted amnesty to people who broke the law by entering the US illegally.
They also argued that Obama had gone well beyond his executive powers, prompting governors of 26 states to take up the case.
In February, a federal court in Texas ruled in their favor — putting the program on hold and prompting a White House appeal, which failed on Monday.
In response to that “adverse ruling,” the Department of Justice said it “intends to seek further review from the Supreme Court of the United States.”
There are nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in the US, but only an estimated 4 million would qualify under Obama’s orders.
Cornell University law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr predicted the top court would want to take up the case, saying the appeals court ruling “flies in the face of several Supreme Court precedents” granting the executive branch “broad, almost unlimited, power on immigration policy issues.”
The White House expressed confidence the Supreme Court would rule in Obama’s favor.
“We’re confident in the power of the legal arguments,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
However, Obama’s appeal to the Supreme Court could mean that he is unable to enact the reforms before next year’s elections.
Regardless of whether the Supreme Court takes up the case before then, it is sure to become a major point of contention during the election campaign.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton — who has tried to woo the vast ranks of Hispanic voters — decried the “politically motivated lawsuit against the president’s executive actions.”
“I hope the case receives a fair and expeditious hearing before the Supreme Court, so that the millions who are affected can stop living in fear of their families being broken apart,” she said.
Republican Chuck Grassley, who chairs the US Senate Judiciary Committee, said the ruling showed “the Obama administration does not have unfettered authority to execute whatever it wants.”
“The president simply can’t singly rewrite the country’s immigration laws. This is a win for the checks and balances established by the Constitution,” Grassley said.
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