Millions of American Families Still in Need of Immigration Relief
Late last night, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld an earlier ruling in Texas v. United States, temporarily blocking implementation of President Obama’s executive actions to provide deportation relief through an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the creation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program.
We are deeply disappointed by the decision, which ignores decades of legal precedent and leaves millions of American families in limbo.
“The record is clear—since the end of World War II, presidents of both parties have used discretionary powers on multiple occasions and for an extensively wide range of reasons to protect various groups from deportation,” said NCLR President and CEO, Janet Murguía, in a statement. “This decision disregards both this precedent and the necessity and practicality of setting priorities when it comes to immigration enforcement,”
The Department of Justice expressed its disagreement with the appeals court and has indicated that it will ask the Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision.
“Ultimately, we believe that a higher court will and should overturn this decision and history will show that President Obama’s actions prevented the separation of families, began to fix a badly broken immigration system, and enriched the economy” said Murguía.
In the statement, Murguía also noted the lengthy review period the Fifth Circuit took to hand down its decision.
“As many have noted, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the decision is not just incorrect but was delayed unnecessarily,” said Murguía. “We cannot permit those opposed to this measure to simply ‘run out the clock’ because we are confident that, when brought before the Supreme Court, the justices will agree that the president was well within his legal authority to provide relief for millions of families.”
Although implementation of these specific programs remains halted, eligible applicants may still participate in DACA. For more information on how to apply for DACA, please visit uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals.
