The Supreme Court’s failure to reach a conclusive decision de facto halts the implementation of common sense programs that could have provided temporary work permits and relief for families from deportation.
Yesterday morning, I stood at the Supreme Court just after the announcement that the Supreme Court Justices had reached a 4-4 split decision on the United States v. Texas case.
Prospects are now very bleak that the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA+) programs, intended to keep families together, will be implemented the end of the year, but our work is far from over. Congress has the power to act.
Two things are clear following yesterday’s outcome:
- The Supreme Court cannot fully do its job without a ninth Supreme Court Justice. The seat must be filled expeditiously, so no more decisions from the Supreme Court are left inconclusive. You can urge Congress to hold a hearing and a confirmation vote on the President’s nominee.
- Approximately 11 million people, absent of meaningful congressional action on immigration in the last two decades, are still left with no means towards gaining status within the confines of our broken immigration system. Rather than making repairs, our government is focused on punishment: setting quotas to keep immigrants in detention, building higher walls, and raiding homes. Congress needs to act on meaningful immigration reform that upholds the dignity of each individual.
Every day, parents are torn from their children and young adults are deported to foreign countries unknown to them. Every day, families with mixed immigration status live with fear and anxiety of separation by deportation or detention. Today, millions of undocumented immigrants and their family members continue to live in limbo, rooted in their lives as Americans with no path towards legal status – temporary or permanent.
FCNL’s advocacy is rooted in Quaker principles that lead us to seek policies that honor the dignity and Divine within each person. We seek policies that allow individuals to fully contribute to their communities, pursue equity and justice for their families and society, and work to make the world a more whole, just, and peaceful place. As is, our immigration policies are perpetuating the exact opposite. We are called to act.
Congress has the ultimate authority and responsibility to authorize lasting measures to remedy this unjust reality for so many immigrants and their families. FCNL is working to make sure that members of Congress hear from all of us: the next step is to pursue meaningful, lasting, just, and bipartisan solutions for immigrants – both eligible and ineligible for DACA+/DAPA – who remain caught in a broken system.
We are growing our grassroots advocacy on immigration. Starting in August, eighteen Advocacy Corps organizers will work within their communities to urge Congress to work on bipartisan action to fix our broken immigration system. The Advocacy Corps program is a training program where young adults between the ages of 19-30 get paid to mobilize their community, and connect local activists and leaders with members of Congress to affect big, long-term change.
