As the Supreme Court begins to hear the DAPA and EXPANDED DACA Immigration case today, the first item on the agenda is to determine if, in fact, the States are even allowed to sue? Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argues for the administration that the States do not have the legal right to even present this case before the Supreme Court because Immigration is a Federal Issue, not a State issue, and that the States cannot show the concrete injury that would give them good standing, beyond the argument that there are concerns over subsidizing driver’s licenses for people who would benefit from DAPA. Verrilli further stated that the “Constitution reserves exclusive authority to the National Government to make and enforce immigration policy.” He says that if the States are allowed to bring the challenge it would “upend the constitutional design.” The justices will also look at the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law that governs how agencies can establish regulations.
This highly-politicized case is not only precedential in its focus and scope, but it has the potential to favorably impact the lives of millions of undocumented immigrants, whose lives have been held in the balance. Outside the Supreme Court, there have been several planned demonstrations taking place since last Friday night over the issue of Obama’s immigration Executive Order, with thousands of elected leaders, immigrant rights supporters, labor representatives, and immigrants, advocating for the president’s executive actions on immigration. Groups of young undocumented immigrants, DREAMERS, have come to the Nation’s capital from all over the country to ensure that their voices will be heard, holding signs and chanting mantras like “SÍ se puede, the Spanish version of Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan — “Yes we can.
Whether or not these massive rallies and marches will directly impact the Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling on DAPA and EXPANDED DACA, the well-attended demonstrations surely send a powerful message that the current immigration system is broken and that President Obama’s Executive Order is part of a critically important curative solution. At the Shulman Law Group, our immigration lawyers strongly believe that immigrants’ lives do matter and hope that the Supreme Court will uphold President Obama’s Immigration programs so that many undocumented individuals may finally be able to come out of the shadows and live fruitful lives through the DAPA and EXPANDED DACA programs, followed by more comprehensive immigration reform.