FOR the third time since the death of Antonin Scalia February, a stymied Supreme Court has split 4-4 and failed to come to a decision. Of the three ties, today's deadlock over United States v Texas, a challenge to Barack Obama’s immigration orders, carries the highest stakes. Up to 5m undocumented immigrants who were the intended beneficiaries of Mr Obama’s 2014 executive actions have lost their chance to apply for a programme that would have given them temporary permission to work and relief from deportation.
The programme, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), sought to protect “hard-working people who have become integrated members of American society” and to keep families from being wrenched apart. DAPA did not confer legal status and was not a path to citizenship, but it gave people whose children were American citizens or permanent residents a chance to “come out of the shadows”, pay taxes and live without the constant fear of immigration agents knocking on their doors.
Before DAPA could get off the ground, a lawsuit from Texas and 25 other states claiming the...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/28Q1vMQ
EmoticonEmoticon