Washington D.C., Jun 23, 2016 / 11:58 am
A divided Supreme Court allowed a hold on the Obama administration's immigration policy to continue, disappointing Catholic advocates of immigration reform.
The Court's decision "shatters the hopes of millions of immigrants who might otherwise have obtained temporary relief from immigration enforcement under two Obama administration programs," the Catholic Legal Immigration Network stated on Thursday.
With a 4-4 tie vote, the Supreme Court let stand the lower courts' decisions in United States v. Texas. In 2015 the district court, had allowed a temporary block on the Obama administration's executive actions on immigration. This was upheld by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court.
The executive actions initially came in the form of a 2012 program entitled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The program would allow children of undocumented immigrants – children who were born in the U.S. and had met certain conditions – to stay for up to two years without deportation.