Judicial Branch Post

Supreme Court Divided On Immigration

While hearing oral arguments on Monday, April 18th, the Supreme Court suggested an evenly split division along party lines in the case of United States v. Texas. The case calls for judicial review of President Obama's 2014 executive order on immigration. Twenty six states are suing the federal government because of Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Resident's Program. The executive order allows some immigrants to remain in the country illegally and apply for work permits. The plaintiffs claim that the order imposes upon Congress's power to make laws. The ruling for this case of appellate jurisdiction is  to take place in June, amidst a busy season in politics with the race for the White House heating up. Currently, it appears the decision is 4-4, although this is a mere speculation based on the questions asked by the justices. 

Political commentators are analyzing the situation in different ways. Dahlia Lithwick from Slate examined the case in context to the recent vacancy in the court and how Scalia's death has affected this decision. She suggests that if Scalia was alive, this vote would go to the side of plaintiffs, thereby overturning Obama's executive order. Commentator Amanda Sakuma from MSNBC mentioned that the prominent Republican front runners, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, both claimed that they would overturn Obama's immigration order if they were elected to office. 

This case is clearly very political and a decision will be reached in a heated time in this unique election. While the Supreme Court can only rule on the constitutionality of a case and must leave the problem solving of the immigration issue to Congress, if the ruling of the court is split 4-4, the lower court's original jurisdiction will stand. This lower court ruled on the side of Texas, therefore an even split in the Supreme Court would result in the deportation of 4 million undocumented immigrants. 

I am not sure where to stand on this case. I speculate that because 26 states are suing the government as a result of this executive order, perhaps this was not a great move on Obama's part. Also, The Supreme Court grants a writ of certiorari to cases that they are interested in hearing, therefore this must be an issue that the majority of the court feels passionate about. However, I believe that there needs to be some other solution to this problem than simply deporting 4 million people. 

Source: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-04-18/the-supreme-court-signals-division-during-hearing-on-immigration-order