US top court appears unlikely to revive Obama immigration plan

On Monday, President Barack Obama's bid to save the proposed plan he has for millions of immigrants in the country hit a wall in the US top court. The plan is to spare the illegal immigrants from deportation and give them work permits.

According to Reuters, during the 90 minutes of arguments presented by 26 states, the Supreme Court seemed divided with their ideological lines especially that there are 4 conservatives and 4 liberals sitting as justices. The case is led by Texas who sued the Obama's unilateral 2014 executive action that bypassed Congress. The article said that the liberals seemed to give support to the President but the conservatives remained skeptical on the immigrant plan. If the decision would eventually lead again to a 4-4, this would call for the death of hopes for the plans as it would uphold the rulings of lower courts which was to doom the plan.

Yahoo wrote that supporters for Obama's legislation have been present outside the courthouse while a caucus of Obama critics also staged their own rally. Into order to win, President Barack Obama must have the support of one court justice, most especially, a conservative. Chief Justice John Roberts or Anthony Kennedy are the most likely but both of them has hit Obama's lawyer, US Solicir General Donald Verrilli, with pretty tough questions.

AOL reported that Justice Anthony Kennedy has expressed his concerns on the note that Obama might be exceeding his authority by having the executive branch set immigration policy rather than letting the Congress do its work and carry out their policy regarding the issue. Kennedy said in a statement "It's as if the president is setting the policy and the Congress is executing it. That's just upside down." 

A decision is bound by the end of June. Obama's plan is to create a program that will help atleast 4 million people. These people are those who have been staying in the US since 2010 without criminal record and have children who are US citizens for now. He's seeking a program that will shield them from deportation and give work permits.

Tags

immigration, Barack Obama, President of United States, Congress, Executive Branch, Supreme Court, Court Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Republicans, Democrats

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