Today, the Supreme Court of the United States decided to take up U.S. v Texas– the legal case that has blocked President Obama’s decision to confer protection against deportation and work permits to individuals who are low priority for immigration enforcement. Following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, responding to this news:
“This is a great day for millions of immigrants and their allies. At long last, millions of immigrants will have a full and fair hearing before the highest court in the land. We are optimistic that the underlying legal issues will be resolved in our favor, and the relief fought for and won by the immigrants’ rights movement will be unfrozen.
”Finally, this case has been taken out of the hands of both Judge Hanen, a notoriously anti-immigrant judge intent on thwarting relief for immigrants, and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most conservative appeals court in the country where conservative judges were called out for deliberately delaying a decision in hopes of running out the clock on Obama’s presidency.
“The executive actions announced by President Obama last November are in line with actions taken by other presidents from both parties over the past 60 years. Moreover, these policies are the right thing to do on behalf of some five million undocumented Americans living and working in the U.S. and on behalf of a nation that overwhelmingly wants immigrants who have deep ties and families here to have the chance to remain in America.
“The Republican governors, attorneys general and presidential candidates supporting this lawsuit should be ashamed of themselves. Not only are they playing politics with millions of immigrant families – and especially the ability of U.S. citizen children to be with their parents – they seem intent on undermining the integrity of the judiciary for partisan aims. Unfortunately for them, our movement gets stronger every day, the public is ready to more formally welcome undocumented immigrants into the American family, and it is highly doubtful the Supreme Court will paralyze basic government functions by putting every discretionary decision by every federal agency at the mercy of state lawsuits.
“We believe the Supreme Court will use common sense to advance the common good. Justice is finally near.”
