WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 20, 2016) — OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates applauds the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the cases challenging the President’s executive actions on immigration, DACA and DAPA.
Today’s announcement by the Supreme Courts follows months of protracted legal battles over the President’s executive actions and years of obstruction in Congress. The President’s programs, DACA and DAPA, would allow certain undocumented individuals brought to this country as children and parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents to remain in the country legally, allowing them to step out of the shadows and offering them relief from deportation. While immigrant advocacy groups quickly embraced both programs, anti-immigrant groups challenged the programs in court, resulting in a preliminary injunction in a Texas district court last February. This injunction was also upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last November and shortly thereafter, OCA signed on to an amicus curiae brief requesting the Supreme Court review the case.
“We applaud the Supreme Court for taking this case,” said Ken Lee, OCA Chief Executive Officer. “The lower courts have taken it upon themselves to unilaterally restrict the executive branch’s long-standing, constitutional authority to enforce the law and have thereby removed any semblance of relief for the 400,000 undocumented Asian and Pacific Islanders in this country. The cost of this obstruction will be measured in the suffering and anguish of the thousands of immigrants that have to live under the threat of deportation.”
“Our immigrant community has suffered through decades of marginalization because anti-immigrant politicians would rather appeal to nativist exclusion policies to get ahead in the polls than enact the will of the American people and create a pathway to citizenship,” continued Lee. “As we have seen in the current election cycle, this trend of anti-immigrant rhetoric is often based on racism and misinformation. We trust the Supreme Court to see past the politics, and allow the President’s programs to provide relief to immigrant communities.”
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national organization of community advocates dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs).
