March 8, 2016
WASHINGTON – After joining an amicus brief with a diverse coalition of 325 immigrant, civil rights, labor and social service organizations, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) released the following statement urging the Supreme Court to lift the injunction that blocked the executive actions on immigration that President Obama announced in November 2014.
“We look to the Court to provide needed relief for hard-working immigrant families who call America home, yet are caught up in our broken immigration system,” said Kathy Ko Chin, APIAHF president and CEO. “Five million families are waiting with their lives on hold, including up to half a million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Court should end this uncertainty and maintain the President’s commitment to creating a future for immigrant families across the country.”
The Obama administration’s expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (known as DACA +) program as well as a new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) initiative were stopped by a federal district court in Texas, and that court’s order subsequently was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The lawsuit against the president’s executive actions was brought by 26 states. Late last year the federal government appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
The brief was filed by the National Immigration Law Center, the American Immigration Council, the Service Employees International Union, the Advancement Project, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and 320 other immigrants’ rights, civil rights, labor and service-provider organizations.
In the brief, the groups outline how families and communities would benefit from the initiatives. The brief provides examples of parents and individuals who would be able to contribute more fully to their communities if the immigration initiatives were allowed to take effect.
The full legal brief is available at http://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/US-v-TX-amicus-immigrant-labor-civilrights-2016-03-08.pdf.
An interactive timeline outlining the process for review of the case by the Supreme Court is available at http://www.nilc.org/issues/litigation/texasvustimeline/.
For more background on the legal challenges to executive action on immigration, see http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/understanding-legal-challenges-executive-action.