President Barack Obama's immigration policy that is being challenged by the U.S. Supreme Court is mainly intended to determine whether millions of undocumented immigrants can remain in the U.S. It turns out that the case is more than an immigration issue as the decision on the case can impact future presidents' ability to craft policy through executive fiat.
Should the Supreme Court invalidate Obama's order to block deportations for certain immigrants, the decision can constrain the power of Obama's successor to bypass Congress according to VOA News. "The question is not the merits of the immigration issue," said T. Gerald Treece, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. "The question is what the president's power is."
Washington Post reports that the lawsuit was brought by 26 states that want to overturn Obama's 2014 executive order that prevents more than 4 million immigrants that entered the U.S. illegally from facing deportation proceedings. Besides the executive order on deportations, Obama employed the president's executive authority on provisions for the Affordable Care Act, limit carbon emissions to combat climate change and toughen the requirements on firearms merchants.
Obama has acted alone since the Republican-controlled Congress has proven to be hostile to his administration and its policies reports First Post. Should he lose before the Supreme Court, future presidents' hands will be tied if found in the same situation.
The immigration case is seen as a front-burner issue as the race for Obama's successor intensifies, with Senator Ted Cruz, a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, already taking on the issue. He has promised in his campaign to roll back the Affordable Care Act andunilaterally terminate the Obama administration's nuclear pact with Iran, both examples of Obama's aggressive executive decisions.
Legal experts believe that the Supreme Court is not looking to set limits on a president's executive power and will hand down a decision that is tailored to the immigration issue in question. However, with the conservatives holding a 5-4 majority, the President's days of freedom to act unilaterally in foreign affairs seem to be numbered.
