National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Urges Supreme Court to Review President's Executive Immigration Action This Term

Last night, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 2-1 to block President Obama's November 2014 executive immigration action, which would have protected an estimated 5 million people from deportation, including nearly half a million Asian Americans. The President’s actions would have expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows undocumented youth to temporarily remain in the country, and would have established a Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), to extend protections to parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The original DACA program, created in 2012, is unaffected by the court’s ruling.

"Our nation’s immigration policies must be fair and smart--the more than 400,000 Asian Americans affected by this court’s ruling are real people who contribute to our country every day, yet live in fear of deportation and being torn apart from their families and communities,” said National Director Christopher Kang. “Earlier this year, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans joined an amicus brief in support of the President’s executive immigration actions. The Fifth Circuit’s decision is not the final word, and we urge the Supreme Court to consider this case this term and to uphold this clearly constitutional program that would benefit millions of immigrants."

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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 35 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.