UUSC Statement on Supreme Court Ruling in United States v. Texas

June 29, 2016

UUSC expresses disappointment and frustration over the Supreme Court’s non-decision in United States v. Texas on Thursday to block President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, programs that would have shielded as many as five million undocumented immigrants from deportation and provided them authorization to work legally in the U.S.  The Court’s 4-4 split means that the lower court’s ruling to block the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) stands. The vast majority of those who would have been eligible for DACA and DAPA have been in this country for over a decade and have deep roots in communities across the country.

“This decision means that immigrants across the country must continue to live in fear that their families will be torn apart,” said Jillian Tuck, UUSC’s Senior Program Leader for Rights, “and that deportation enforcement programs that separate parents from their children will continue to take an enormous toll—social, emotional, and financial—on the whole of the American public.” Tuck continued, “Also concerning is the safety of the many young people fleeing horrific violence in Central America who would have been granted speedy protection through an expanded DACA program.”

UUSC’s Senior Program Leader for Activism, Hannah Hafter, said “The Obama Administration gravely miscalculated by believing they could secure a positive immigration legacy by implementing the DAPA/DACA program, while with the other hand taking a hard line against asylum-seeking families. This administration has a responsibility to follow through on their commitments and, rather than declare defeat after the supreme court ruling, do all they can for the families in our community living in fear of deportation. This includes issuing Temporary Protected Status to those from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador who have come here to be free from danger.”