Newswise — With the Supreme Court deadlocked on an immigration case, the Court’s action blocking President Obama’s immigration policies shows that immigration will remain critical into the November general election, immigration law experts said.
The terse nine-word decision, as is court practice when a split occurs causing the lower court’s ruling to remain in place, affirmed the Fifth Circuit’s decision to block the president’s plans, known as Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Texas and 25 other states, including Georgia, challenged the presidential action on immigration. “Although the Court’s tie is a loss for Obama and the millions who stood to benefit immediately from DAPA and expanded DACA, 4-4 decisions do not constitute precedent, so the door is not closed to future policies that either expand or constrict immigration relief,” said Shana Tabak, a visiting assistant professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law.
Nearly 5 million people stood to benefit from President Obama’s ambitious policy to delay the deportation of certain low-priority undocumented immigrants. Those individuals will now have to wait for further litigation – or a new president or Supreme Court composition – before gaining any immigration relief, Tabak said.
The matter before the Court, explained Carolina Antonini, an adjunct professor at the Georgia State College of Law, was a preliminary injunction granted by the 5th Circuit against the implementation of these initiatives pending litigation regarding their constitutionality.
“The decision means that the injunction to implementation will stand,” Antonini said. “The ruling does not impact the original DACA program launched in 2012.”
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Tabak, an expert in international law, asylum and refugee law, and human rights issues, has worked with immigrant and human rights organizations in the U.S., Latin America, and the Middle East.Her immigration and refugee experience includes handling cases on behalf of immigrant women and girls fleeing gender-based violence at the Tahirih Justice Center in Washington, D.C., and on behalf of Iraqi refugees while working with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman, Jordan.For more information about Tabak, visit http://law.gsu.edu/profile/shana-tabak/. For more information about her publications, visit http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=796935.
Antonini teaches immigration law as an adjunct faculty member at Georgia State University's College of Law. A partner at Antonini and Cohen Immigration Law Group and a former social worker, Antonini has represented indigent immigrants in international human rights and immigration matters for many years. She has appeared in numerous media interviews, including on CNN and NPR, and has been quoted widely in various publications.
For a biography of Antonini, visit law.gsu.edu/profile/carolina-antonini.
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