DAPA/DACA

Department Of Justice Petitioned Supreme Court To Re-hear DACA/DAPA

Following the disheartening Supreme Court deadlock last month on President Obama's immigration executive actions, which included such proposed programs as DAPA and Expanded DACA, there were many advocacy groups highlighting the unfairness of having conducted a hearing without a full Bench due to the political maneuver of Senate Republicans who refused to appoint a successor to Justice Scalia. On July 18, in a surprising move, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) petitioned the Supreme Court…

Read MorePosted on

Happy 4th Anniversary DACA!

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, originally started on June 15, 2012, exactly four years ago.  Under DACA, unauthorized immigrants who came to the country before age 16; were under age 31 at the time of the announcement; and had been in the country for five years when the initiative was announced are eligible to apply for a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit. Building on the success of DACA, in November…

Read MorePosted on

Possible Immigration Consequences Of A Supreme Court Deadlock

With a 4-4 Supreme Court deadlock as a looming possibility, with four conservative justices and four liberals seemingly divided along ideological lines, the question that many eligible DAPA and EXPANDED DACA candidates are asking is: What will be the possible immigration consequences of a deadlock?  A 4-4 decision would essentially leave in place the Appeals Court ruling that blocks the Executive Order and deny President Obama's chance to revive it while he completes his term in…

Read MorePosted on

Thousands Demonstrate In Front Of Supreme Court As Immigration Case Begins Today

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…

Read MorePosted on

Labor Secretary Perez Says That President Has Authority On Immigration Matters

Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez said in an interview today that the President has full executive authority on immigration decisions and issues. "There has been a longstanding precedent in the Supreme Court that the federal government, the executive branch, has authority in immigration matters," Perez said.  Perez strongly defends the legality of President Obama's immigration executive actions, which will be argued before the Supreme Court this coming Monday, April 18th, as the Justices examine the case…

Read MorePosted on

Speculations About How Chief Justice Roberts Will Rule On DAPA And Expanded DACA

Later this month, when the Supreme Court hears oral argument in United States v. Texas, the challenge to President Obama’s executive action on immigration, all eyes will be on Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.  Although Roberts is a conservative and there is some suggestion that the Justices will rule along their traditional conservative versus progressive lines, there is also speculation that Chief Justice Roberts may actually rule in favor of DAPA and expanded DACA.  If…

Read MorePosted on

New Study Shows Daca And Dapa Eligible Populations Contributory To U.S. Society

A new paper published in the Journal on Migration and Human Security, and released in March of 2016 by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), offers a statistical analysis of the potential beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, the original Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented in 2012 (“original DACA), and the expanded DACA program announced in 2014.  Most striking was the finding that the majority of…

Read MorePosted on

How Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland Stands On Immigration Issues

Judge Merrick Garland is President Obama's nominee for the vacant Supreme Court seat.  Given that the high court is set to rule on President Obama's executive orders on immigration in June, the question that presents itself is: What are Merrick Garland's views on immigration and how might he vote on expanded DACA and DAPA?  With Justice Scalia's passing, one vote can make an enormous difference, impacting the fate of Obama's Immigration actions significantly.  Immigration clients eligible…

Read MorePosted on

What is Expanded DACA?

President Obama announced, under his Executive Order, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in June of 2012 that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the United States prior to their sixteenth birthday to receive a work permit and exemption from deportation. In November of 2014, President Obama announced changes to DACA which would expand it to include illegal immigrants, expand the entry date, eliminate the requirement that applicants be younger than 31 years old, and lengthen…

Read MorePosted on

How Justice Scalia’s Death Will Affect DAPA

The future of the United States Supreme Court, and an estimated four million immigrants affected by its upcoming decision on DAPA, lies in the balance due to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the former leader of the court’s dominant conservative contingency.  There is no way for Scalia's seat to be filled before the DAPA hearing (United States v. Texas), which is scheduled to commence in April.  Thus, Justice Scalia’s death leaves the court with two…

Read MorePosted on