Over four million immigrants living in the United States of America are facing possible deportation. This is if the US Supreme Court would continue to postpone its decision regarding the revival of President Barack Obama's Executive Order shielding the immigrants from being deported.
According to Reuters, the case was not on the list of new cases the court agreed on Friday, January 15th, to take up. The court could make an announcement within next week on whether it will hear the immigration dispute. If the justices hear the case, it would become one of the centerpiece cases of its current term, which runs until June.
Obama's executive order was made last November 2014 and after Congress failed to pass bipartisan immigration legislation, the executive action was blocked by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states sued to stop it, deeming the order as unconstitutional.
The main aspects of Obama's plan are an expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which offers successful applicants a three-year reprieve from deportation and a temporary work permit, according to Latin American Herald Tribune. DACA has prevented the deportation of more than 500,000 young migrants since it was launched in 2012. Furthermore, Obama's proposal would temporarily legalize the undocumented parent of US citizens under the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans or DAPA.
Although SCOTUS did not announce whether it will hear Obama's bid to revive his plan, the justices are widely expected to take up the case, which will be key in determining Obama's legacy on immigration, according to Latin Post.
If the Supreme Court will not hear Obama's immigration case, however, it is likely the executive order will die and the immigrants will eventually be deported. Nevertheless, if the Supreme Court decides otherwise, arguments will likely be scheduled on April and a decision will be made by June before Obama's term ends.
