Rep. Chu Welcomes Supreme Court Decision to Hear U.S. v. Texas Immigration Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today announced their decision to hear arguments in U.S. v. Texas, the case regarding the President’s executive actions to provide temporary relief from deportation for undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children and parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. Those actions, an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), were halted by a decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Rep. Chu issued the following statement:

“With over 11 million undocumented immigrants forced into the shadows, I have fought for years for immigration reform that will keep families together and bolster our economy. As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), I urged the President to use his executive authority to take actions after House Republicans stalled legislative efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform last Congress. That is why I was overjoyed when President Obama announced an expansion of the already successful DACA program and created the DAPA program. These actions would enable families to stay together and allow immigrants to continue to work and contribute to our economy with dignity and without the fear of deportation.

“I was disappointed when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s injunction, but I knew it was only a temporary setback. Allowing these aspiring Americans to continue to work and contribute without fear of deportation or being separated from their families is the right thing to do morally, economically, and legally. I am confident that the Supreme Court will uphold President Obama’s programs as lawful exercises of executive discretion.”

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a series of executive orders that would defer deportation for approximately 4.7 million aspiring Americans living in the U.S. The largest initiatives included an expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the creation of a new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. The expanded DACA program extends DACA eligibility to those who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, regardless of their current age, and who have lived in U.S. continuously since January 1, 2010. The DAPA program allows parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years, provided they have lived in the U.S .continuously since January 1, 2010, and pass required background checks. The implementation of both programs has been suspended until ongoing litigation is resolved.

Leading up to the President’s executive actions, Rep. Chu as Chair of CAPAC led meetings with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson, DHS Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and senior White House aides, Cecilia Munoz and Neil Eggleston, to discuss the need to prioritize family unity in immigration reform. A copy of CAPAC’s executive action recommendations to Secretary Jeh Johnson can be found here.