Supreme Court To Review If Obama Immigration Actions Were 'Faithfully Executed'

NPR.com:

The Supreme court has once again stepped into the fire of hot-button political issues. The court said Tuesday it would rule by summer on the legality of President Obama's executive action granting temporary legal status to as many as 4.5 million people who entered the U.S. illegally.

Fourteen months ago, Obama, frustrated by Congress' inability to act on immigration reform, issued an order expanding temporary legal status for some adults who entered the U.S. illegally.

The new order granted temporary legal status and work permits to illegal adult immigrants who had been in the U.S. for five years and who have children who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. In addition, applicants had to register, pass a criminal background check, and prove they had paid their taxes. If they met all these criteria, they would be granted legal status and temporary work permits for three years.

The president said this change in immigration regulations would allow people to "come out of the shadows and get right with the law."

The president's action followed a similar temporary reprieve from deportation that he issued in 2012 for children age 15 and under brought to the U.S. illegally. Court challenges to that order failed.

Although many Republicans objected to the 2012 action for children, opposition was relatively muted. The most recent temporary reprieve for adults, however, infuriated the GOP.

Republicans blasted the president's action as "lawless," and a coalition of 26 states led by Texas challenged the executive action in court, contending that the president had exceeded his authority.

A year ago a federal judge blocked implementation of the new regime and a federal appeals court panel, by a 2-1 vote subsequently upheld the injunction on broader grounds. The Obama administration then asked the Supreme Court to review the case, and on Tuesday the justices said they would hear arguments in April, with a decision expected by late June.

If the court had refused to hear the case, the appeals court ruling would have stood, and the president's program would have been dead in the water.

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