The following is a statement from Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, reacting to yesterday’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against DAPA/DACA expansion programs:
“After an unacceptable delay, we finally have a decision from the 5th circuit and can move on to seeking a final result at the Supreme Court. If the Department of Justice acts now, there’s plenty of time for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up this case in the next term, so that a decision can be made by June 2016. The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to take up the marriage equality case in mid-November of 2014. They did so, and issued a landmark ruling in June 2015. The same can happen here.
“There is nothing surprising about yesterday’s 5th Circuit ruling. The originating District Court judge, Andrew Hanen, and this appeals court were hand-selected by Texas and the other states challenging the DAPA/DACA expansion. Even more outrageously, the 5th Circuit deliberately slow-walked this decision, presumably in an attempt to keep it off the Supreme Court docket before the end of President Obama’s term in office. Only a spate of recent articles and actions calling out the 5th Circuit seemed to dislodge this decision.
“It should be noted that other federal judges strongly disagree with the findings and substance of the 5thCircuit decision, and have ruled on behalf of the Obama Administration’s executive action programs. This is why we are confident the Supreme Court will step in and correct the 5th circuit’s error.
“The very strong dissent from Judge Dineen King is worth a read. It shows how political this lawsuit really is. She writes: ‘I have a firm and definite conviction that a mistake has been made. That mistake has been exacerbated by the extended delay that has occurred in deciding this ‘expedited’ appeal. There is no justification for that delay. I dissent.’
“The Supreme Court can and must step in and correct this mistake. Millions of American families are counting on it.”
