This Week in Immigration Reform — Week Ending January 22

Week Ending January 22

This week in immigration: Supreme Court will rule on administrative relief; Senate Democrats block anti-refugee bill; and Pew report examines the Latino electorate.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Administrative Relief Case: Following weeks of speculation, the Supreme Court announced Tuesday it would hear United States v. Texas, the case surrounding President Obama’s executive action on immigration. In a press release, NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguia lauded the decision, saying, “We are pleased that the justices are allowing the administration to present its case, which we believe will definitively show that the president’s necessary administrative actions on immigration are based on decades of legal precedent, set by both Democratic and Republican presidents. We look forward to finally securing much-needed relief for families and encourage those who would like a permanent legislative solution on immigration to urge their representatives, as well as those running for president, to push for comprehensive immigration reform.”

Anti-refugee bill blocked in Senate: Senate Democrats blocked a bill this week that would have limited the number of refugees entering the United States from Syria and Iraq. H.R. 4038 would have required any refugee from Syria or Iraq to gain unanimous approval from the Homeland Security Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, despite critics noting the strong security safeguards already present in the current laws. The bill failed to pass by a 55-43 vote.

Pew Hispanic report examines the Latino electorate: Hispanic millennials will account for nearly half (44 percent) of the projected 27.3 million Hispanic eligible voters for 2016, according to a new Pew Research Center report examining the Latino electorate. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, the report notes that there will be approximately four million more eligible Hispanic voters than existed in 2012. Sources of the increase come from the aforementioned millennials, as well as an estimated 1.2 million Hispanic immigrants who have naturalized since 2012. The report also looks at the geographic distribution of Hispanic eligible voters, providing state election fact sheets of the Latino voting population.