National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Disappointed by Supreme Court’s Deadlock over Immigration Executive Actions

AAPI Advocates Urge Senate to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy, Will Continue Fight for Immigration Reform

The Supreme Court split 4-4 today on United States v. Texas, regarding President Obama’s immigration executive actions from 2014, leaving in place a lower court’s injunction blocking the program.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court was unable to reach a majority decision regarding the President’s immigration actions that would have benefitted four million people,” said NCAPA National Director Christopher Kang. “This is further proof that the Senate Republican obstruction of the Supreme Court and Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination is harming millions of Americans--and also undermining our democracy. Instead of the Supreme Court ruling for our nation, one district court judge in Texas will be allowed to continued his overreach, blocking this program nationwide.”

“We will not give up the fight and urge the Department of Justice to seek a rehearing for when the Supreme Court once again has nine justices,” Kang continued. “We cannot give up on the millions of families who live in fear of being separated, and we are committed to standing strong and united in pushing for comprehensive immigration reform. In the meantime, we will continue our outreach efforts on the original DACA program, which remains in place.”

President Obama’s 2014 immigration actions would have aided nearly 400,000 Asian Americans. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) would have been expanded by allowing more immigrants to qualify, and a new program, Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), would have been established to aid parents of citizens and lawful permanent residents, including relief from deportation and allowing them to apply for work authorization.

The original DACA program remains unaffected, and more than 100,000 undocumented Asian Americans remain potentially eligible for this program, but have not yet applied.  More DACA resources are available here from the National Immigration Law Center.

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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

NCAPA member statements:

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC (AAJC)

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)

National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) 

OCA -Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA)

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)

South Asian Bar Association of North America (SABA North America)

Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund (SALDEF)