Supreme Court will rule on President Obama’s immigration plan

Immigration activists sounded optimistic that the Supreme Court would allow the program to proceed, arguing that it was originally blocked only because conservative judges were the ones who heard the case at lower levels.

 

“We believe the Supreme Court will use common sense to advance the common good. Justice is finally near,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.

 

Opponents of the program said Obama’s lawyers will not be able to escape the fact that Congress is responsible for crafting the nation’s immigration enforcement laws, and the president did not get its approval to overhaul them in such dramatic fashion.

 

“President Obama is not a king, and impatient presidents don’t get to change the law,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice. “This executive overreach is both unlawful and unconstitutional.”

 

While the case to date has hinged on whether Obama violated the law, the justices added a constitutional question. They said both sides must address whether Obama’s action violates the “Take Care Clause” of the Constitution, which states that the president must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

 

That could be a bad sign for the administration, because another issue is whether Texas and the other states even have standing to sue. They claim they do because Obama’s action would force them to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants at state cost. By adding the constitutional claim, the justices may be signalling they agree with the states’ position on standing.

 

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