Prior to last week’s hearing in Texas where attorneys for half of the country’s states asked a federal judge to find that President Obama’s executive order pertaining to immigration is illegal, two national police chiefs’ associations and 27 individual police chiefs and sheriffs filed a brief supporting its legality. The amicus (friend of the court) brief was signed by the police chiefs of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and Denver, and the sheriffs of Dallas County and El Paso County in Texas, among others.
Their brief argues that that the executive action “will improve public safety by encouraging community cooperation with police.” and that providing undocumented immigrants the opportunity to have verified, secure identification “aids law enforcement in carrying out its day to day duties.” Their position echoes the views of more than 100 legal and constitutional scholars who sent a letter to Obama, before his announcement of the order last November, stating that the deferral of deportations even of millions of undocumented immigrants falls squarely within the executive branch’s legal authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion, and bears similarity to less extensive actions taken by previous presidents.
This advocacy in support of the President’s action stands in stark contrast to the position of certain police chiefs and sheriffs in the State of Arizona which itself has been a hotbed of confrontation over immigration issues for many years now. This reflects the great divide in this country over the incendiary issue of whether adults and children who came to the United States without proper documentation for entry should qualify to stay and work here.
As indicated in a separate blog post on this site, the U.S. District Court judge hearing the case in Brownsville, Texas has yet to issue a decision on the plaintiffs’ request that the court enjoin the executive branch from proceeding with the implementation of the President’s directives.
The Shulman Law Group endeavors to ensure its clients be kept abreast of all significant developments relating to the process of immigration to the United States, including the manner in which parallel legal proceedings may impact immigrants.. Edward Shulman, Esq, founder of The Shulman Law Group, LLC is a national speaker for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILA is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, and to advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice. In the course of Mr. Shulman’s involvement with AILA, he has been dedicated to educating other immigration attorneys about the import of helping intending immigrants to navigate a new cultural system. He meticulously follows all of the developments occurring in the battle over immigration reform so that he will be prepared to effectively assist his clients obtain residency if a new system is enacted.