The Supreme Court of the United States, which is this nation’s highest court, has decided to review President Obama’s controversial case regarding executive actions on immigration that he initially set forth back in November of 2014. These executive actions, which would shield approximately 5 million immigrants from deportation, were stalled when a Texas Judge ruled that the president had overstepped his legal authority when he issued these immigration-related executive orders. The suit was spearheaded by Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states. The case, referred to as the United States v. Texas, will be argued at the Supreme Court in April of this year. Noteworthy is the fact that the Justices are expected to set forth their ruling by June, which is when the 2016 presidential election is said to enter its prime time. With immigration as one of the major “hot topic” issues, it will be interesting to see how the candidates respond to the decision.
The White House expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will ultimately deem as lawful President Obama’s immigration action. Indeed, if the court sides with Obama, he would have until his term ends in January 2017 to try to roll out the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the new initiative called Deferred Action for Parent Accountability (DAPA).
Should President Obama’s immigration plan be allowed to move forward, there will only be a short, seven-month window in which to apply for these helpful programs, particularly if the new President decides to cease these executive orders. For example, candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have stated that they intend to terminate the program if elected President. As such, timing will be critical and we, at the Shulman Law Group, LLC, are poised to expediently assist any eligible individuals with the process of applying for the extended DACA and DAPA programs in the case of a victory for the Executive Actions. We urge our existing and potential future clients to continue to visit our website for time sensitive information related to this critically important immigration ruling.