The Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Obama on Thursday, deadlocking in a 4-4 decision over the legality of the president's controversial immigration programs.
The tie vote leaves in place a lower court ruling that blocks a program allowing undocumented workers who are parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to remain in the United States for three years and to apply for work permits.
This is the first major case the Supreme Court has been unable to decide because of a 4-4 tie, and raises the stakes further in this fall's presidential election.After Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, Obama nominated federal Judge Merrick Garland to the court.
Senate Republicans even before that nomination said they would not hold a vote or a hearing for anyone nominated by Obama, arguing the pivotal vote on the high court should be determined by the next president.
The White House and Democrats in Congress have howled in rage over that decision, and Thursday's decision will increase tensions over the Senate blockade.
"Today’s deadlocked decision from the Supreme Court is unacceptable, and shows us all just how high the stakes are in this election,” she said in a statement.Republicans hailed the high court’s vote.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling makes the president’s executive action on immigration null and void,” Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement.
“The Constitution is clear: The president is not permitted to write laws — only Congress is. This is another major victory in our fight to restore the separation of powers.”
Thursday's action does not affect a separate 2012 action taken by Obama that allows certain children who entered or stayed in the United States illegally to remain in the country and apply for work permits.
Twenty-six Republican-led states sued the federal government over the expansion of that program after the president issued new executive actions in November 2014.
The states claimed they would be burdened by having to spend more on public services like healthcare, law enforcement and education if undocumented parents of both American citizens and legal permanent residents are allowed to stay in the country.
Texas, specifically, said it would be hurt by having to issue more driver's licenses, a benefit that’s now subsidized.
Supporters of the administration argued that Texas could pass the added costs for driver’s licenses on to residents. They claim the challenging states actually stand to make money off Obama’s programs from an increase in tax contributions.
A three-judge panel from a federal appeals court in New Orleans said in a split decision the Obama administration lacked the legal power to shield more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and grant them work permits.
It handed a nationwide injunction preventing the administration from putting the programs into place.
By failing to provide a new ruling on that decision, the Supreme Court's action on Thursday leaves it in place.
The actual lawsuit suit filed by the 26 states is still working its way through the court system.
When Obama took the action to expand his immigration programs, it was part of a last-ditch effort to take action after Congress failed to pass a sweeping overhaul of nation’s immigration system that would have offered a path to citizenship for millions living in the country illegally.
Obama has been derided by immigrant-rights activists as the “deporter in chief” for ramping up the pace of removals during his first term. Since then, he’s taken steps to narrow the focus of immigration enforcement, and his executive actions were seen as a centerpiece of his push to reverse that trend.
Author: Lydia Wheeler & Jordan Fabian
Date:
Source: The Hill