Immigration Reform Advocates Plan March in D.C. to Mark SCOTUS Hearing of Obama's Immigration Executive Action Case
Immigration reform advocates are planning to converge on the Nation's Capital in a massive demonstration later this month when the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in President Obama's executive action case on immigration.
Thousands of immigrants and their supporters are slated to travel to Washington on April 18, and line the streets bordering the White House as part of the New York Immigration Coalition's Stand Up for Relief protest.
Supreme Court Gets its say on Immigration
The proceedings will mark the now eight member panel of justice's official foray into the long simmering debate on immigration. The high court is expected to actually render a decision in the case sometime in June.
At stake is whether the President is unilaterally authorized to provide deportation protection to millions of undocumented immigrants via the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DAPA) actions he took in 2014.
More specifically, the president's plan offered greater protections to DREAMERS, or young undocumented immigrants who came or were brought into the U.S. when they were 16 or younger. The plan also afforded protections to undocumented immigrants who are parents of children who are citizens or have legal status, and who have been in the U.S. for five or more years.
In all, some 5 million immigrants stood to directly benefit from the president's actions while the Department of Homeland Security was directed to focus attention on collaring and deporting serious criminals and immigrants who had only recently entered the U.S.
Not long after the president's announcement, the state of Texas and ultimately 25 other states sued the Obama administration in federal court, challenging the legalities of both DACA and DAPA.
Soon after that, a federal court there issued an injunction halting the implementation of the measures, drawing an instant appeal from the White House.
In time, a Fifth Circuit Appeals Court in New Orleans affirmed the lower court's decision, paving the way for the matter to now be adjudicated before the Supreme Court.
With the stakes so high, parties on both side of the issue are already feverishly maneuvering to have their voices heard.
Republican led House of Representatives to Argue Against President's Actions
The Republican led House of Representatives recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of the state of Texas and will be granted 15 minutes before the court during the oral arguments phase of the proceedings to state their unwavering opposition to the president's actions.
The issue of immigration has also become a hot-button topic during the ongoing 2016 presidential election season, with Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz both taking on a hard-line stance against all reforms.
Both men are on record in asserting that they plan to carry out mass deportations should either of them be elected, and Trump has also pledged to erect a massive wall along the Mexican border to keep out all immigrants.
"Over the last year, we've seen some presidential candidates stoke the fires of fear and intolerance to new levels," reads a passage on the New York Immigration Coalition website. "From promises to deport 11 million undocumented people and building 55-foot high walls to calls for security patrols of Muslim neighborhoods, immigrants have become unfair targets to score cheap political points. This type of hatred has harmful, dangerous consequences."
Meanwhile, leading Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both vowed to legislatively tackle immigration reform should either of them be elected, with the former first lady pledging to so within the first 100 days of her administration.
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