Monday, January 18, 2016
The court could take the case next week and still schedule it for argument this term under normal procedures. If the justices don't decide fairly soon after that, they might have to take some unusual steps to get the case heard and decided before they customarily wrap up decisions in late June.Obama's 2012 DACA is not affected by the lawsuit, or the temporary injunction. However, Politico says, if the Supreme Court agrees that Obama did not have the authority to expand the immigration reliefs, "the administration would likely have to shut down the earlier program," which has granted a renewable two-year work permit and temporary permission to remain in the country to about 788,000 people.
If the court does decide to take up the case, Obama will have a chance to revive a key legacy item that has been in limbo for nearly a year, since a federal judge in Texas issued an order halting the immigration moves the president announced just after the 2014 midterm elections.
Should the court rule in Obama's favor, his administration will have a relatively short, seven-month window to try to roll out the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the new initiative called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans. While advocacy groups are eager to have illegal immigrants apply for the programs, there are questions about how many will do so if they're rolled out so close to the end of Obama's presidency.
Tags: supreme court , 5th circuit court of appeals , obama , dapa , daca , immigration , executive actions