WORLD: Supreme Court asks whether Obama overreached with immigration program
View photos
President Obama announces his expansive executive actions on immigration in 2014. (Photo: Jim Bourg, Pool/AP)
The
Supreme Court’s conservatives, led by Chief Justice John Roberts,
seemed skeptical Monday of President Obama’s sweeping immigration
executive actions that would shield 4.5 million unauthorized immigrants
from deportation and make them eligible for work permits.
Two
lower courts ruled that the “deferred action” programs were
unconstitutional, and prevented them from being implemented pending the
Supreme Court’s decision. The court, which lost its conservative
firebrand Antonin Scalia in February, has been mostly kind to the
president’s legacy — but it’s unclear if his luck will hold out in his
final year in office.
In
oral arguments in the case, Roberts asked Solicitor General Donald
Verrilli to explain whether he believed a president could decide not to
deport any immigrants at all. Verrilli said immigration law binds the
executive to deport immigrants recently arrived at the border and those
who commit crimes, but he stressed that Obama’s program, which is aimed
at young unauthorized immigrants and the parents of U.S. citizens, is
not that sweeping. “That’s a million miles from where we are now,”
Verrilli said.
“It’s
4 million people from where we are now,” interrupted Justice Anthony
Kennedy, one of the court’s conservatives who occasionally sides with
the liberals. Kennedy added that he thinks the president is setting
policy on his own, ignoring the will of Congress. “That’s just upside
down,” he protested.
Both
Roberts and Kennedy sided with the court’s liberals in the last major
immigration case to reach the Supreme Court, over Arizona’s SB 1070 law.
They affirmed the executive’s power to pursue its own immigration
policies even when it inconveniences states.
But
in Monday’s oral argument, both men asked questions that suggested they
believe this case is different. If the court rules against the
government, it could put in jeopardy Obama’s earlier program that has
already protected from deportation 800,000 young unauthorized immigrants
who came to the country as children. That deferred action program is
not being challenged, but if the court issues a broad ruling, it may
undercut its status as well.
View photos
Mario
Gochez of New Jersey joins other supporters of immigration reform in
front of the Supreme Court, April 18, 2016. (Photo: Pablo Martinez
Monsivais/AP)
Verrilli
maintained that Texas and 25 other states that joined its claim do not
have the legal right, or standing, to sue the federal government. Texas
is suing because the state allows people with deferred action status to
apply for driver’s licenses. The state estimates it would spend millions
of dollars if the estimated 500,000 people in its state who will be
legalized under Obama’s programs apply for licenses.
The
government says Texas could easily change its law, preventing people on
deferred action from getting licenses. But Roberts and Justice Samuel
Alito seemed to reject that argument, pointing out the government would
probably sue Texas if it blocked immigrants from accessing licenses.
Verrilli would not rule out that possibility, but maintained the state
still did not have standing.
Justice
Stephen Breyer made the most convincing argument for not granting Texas
standing — a decision that would allow the eight-person court to dodge a
contentious deadlock on a politically charged case. The liberal judge
said the Supreme Court had already decided that states and taxpayers may
not bring suits against the federal government simply because they do
not believe their taxpayer money should be spent on policies they do not
agree with. Allowing such suits to continue would make courts the
referees in non-Constitutional disputes between states and the feds.
“Before you know it, power will be transferred from the president and
Congress, where it belongs, to a group of unelected judges,” Breyer
said.
It’s
unclear whether Breyer’s argument will sway his colleagues. In 2007,
the court’s liberals allowed Massachusetts’ residents to sue the
Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to enforce carbon
emissions rules, which they argued was leading to the erosion of the
state’s coastline. Breyer argued that case was different, because it
involved the state’s land, not simply its taxpayer funds. At one point
on Monday, Roberts said that the loss of the state’s money is
“classic” injury, suggesting he may not share Breyer’s hesitation on
standing.
It’s
not just the fate of millions of immigrants that hang in the balance.
If the court strikes down the president’s immigration actions, it will
be a reversal of recent trends. “Historically, immigration is an area
where the Supreme Court has given the president a whole lot of
deference,” said Jeff Rosen, president of the nonprofit National
Constitution Center. If the court decides Obama overreached, “that will
be a really dramatic holding.”
A decision is expected in June.
Hier gevonden: https://www.yahoo.com/news/supreme-court-asks-whether-obama-overreached-with-173151507.html
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