By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.
Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for a major ruling on the limits
of presidential powers, agreeing to decide the legality of President
Barack Obama's unilateral action to shield more than 4 million illegal
immigrants from deportation.
The court agreed to hear Obama's bid to resurrect his plan,
undertaken in 2014 through executive action bypassing the Republican-led
Congress, that was blocked last year by lower courts after Texas and 25
other Republican-governed states sued to stop it. A ruling is due by
the end of June.
The case is not the first time
Obama has asked the Supreme Court to rescue a major initiative. The
court in 2012 and 2015 rejected conservative challenges to his signature
healthcare law.
The White House expressed
confidence the court would now deem as lawful Obama's immigration
action, which was crafted to let millions of illegal immigrants whose
children are American citizens or lawful permanent residents to get into
a program that protects them from deportation and supplies work
permits.
Texas and the other states
contend Obama exceeded his presidential powers and usurped the authority
of Congress. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said
courts have long recognized the limits to presidential authority.
"The court should affirm what President Obama said himself on more
than 20 occasions: that he cannot unilaterally rewrite congressional
laws and circumvent the people's representatives," Paxton said.The nine justices will review a November ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a February 2015 decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the Texas border with Mexico, to halt Obama's action.
With some of his major legislative initiatives suffocated by Republican lawmakers, the Democratic president has resorted to executive action to get around Congress on issues including immigration, gun control and the Obamacare law. The most recent executive action came this month when he acted unilaterally to expand background checks for certain gun purchases.
His executive actions have antagonized Republicans who accuse him of unlawfully taking actions by executive fiat that only Congress can perform.
The case raises several legal issues, including whether states have legal standing to sue the U.S. government over decisions on how to enforce federal laws.
The high court added a separate question on whether the president's action violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that requires the president to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
The Obama administration called
the president's action mere guidance to immigration officials on how to
exercise discretion given by Congress on how to enforce immigration
laws.
Obama's action was "consistent with the actions taken by presidents
of both parties, the laws passed by Congress and the decisions of the
Supreme Court," White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said.
Those eligible for Obama's
program, directed at illegal immigrants with no criminal record, would
be able to work legally and receive some federal benefits. States were
not required to provide any benefits. His order expanded on a 2012
program that provided similar relief for people who became illegal
immigrants as children.
The case could have
repercussions beyond immigration because it would set a precedent for
the circumstances under which states can sue the federal government over
a range of executive actions. Future presidents, Republican or
Democratic, could face new constraints if the states win.
The case is one of the most
important the Supreme Court will decide during its current term, along
with a challenge to a restrictive Texas abortion law.
If the court sides with Obama,
he would have until his term ends in January 2017 to implement the
immigration plan. With the U.S. presidential election looming in
November, it would be up to the next president to decide whether to keep
it in place.
Obama's action came after a
bipartisan immigration policy overhaul bill passed by the Senate died in
the House of Representatives.
The ruling is due just months
before the presidential election. The two leading Democratic
presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, said on
Tuesday the court should uphold Obama's action. Republican candidates
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio said as president they would undo Obama's
immigration moves.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Obama’s executive action relied on well-established constitutional authority.
He said he recently met with the
illegal immigrant parents of U.S citizens and lawful permanent
residents, saying that "these law-abiding men and women continue to live
in constant fear of being separated from their children. These families
must be allowed to step out of the shadows and fully contribute to the
country that they love and call home."
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Julia Edwards; Editing by Will Dunham)
No comments:
Post a Comment