Tag Archives: Immigration

Supreme Court to decide major case on Obama immigration plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for a major ruling on the limits of presidential powers, agreeing to decide the legality of President Barack Obama’s unilateral action to shield more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation.

The court agreed to hear Obama’s bid to resurrect his plan, undertaken in 2014 through executive action bypassing the Republican-led Congress, that was blocked last year by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states sued to stop it. A ruling is due by the end of June.

The case is not the first time Obama has asked the Supreme Court to rescue a major initiative. The court in 2012 and 2015 rejected conservative challenges to his signature healthcare law.

The White House expressed confidence the court would now deem as lawful Obama’s immigration action, which was crafted to let millions of illegal immigrants whose children are American citizens or lawful permanent residents to get into a program that protects them from deportation and supplies work permits.

Texas and the other states contend Obama exceeded his presidential powers and usurped the authority of Congress. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said courts have long recognized the limits to presidential authority.

“The court should affirm what President Obama said himself on more than 20 occasions: that he cannot unilaterally rewrite congressional laws and circumvent the people’s representatives,” Paxton said.

The nine justices will review a November ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a February 2015 decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the Texas border with Mexico, to halt Obama’s action.

With some of his major legislative initiatives suffocated by Republican lawmakers, the Democratic president has resorted to executive action to get around Congress on issues including immigration, gun control and the Obamacare law. The most recent executive action came this month when he acted unilaterally to expand background checks for certain gun purchases.

His executive actions have antagonized Republicans who accuse him of unlawfully taking actions by executive fiat that only Congress can perform.

The case raises several legal issues, including whether states have legal standing to sue the U.S. government over decisions on how to enforce federal laws.

‘FAITHFULLY EXECUTED’

The high court added a separate question on whether the president’s action violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that requires the president to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

The Obama administration called the president’s action mere guidance to immigration officials on how to exercise discretion given by Congress on how to enforce immigration laws.

Obama’s action was “consistent with the actions taken by presidents of both parties, the laws passed by Congress and the decisions of the Supreme Court,” White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said.

Those eligible for Obama’s program, directed at illegal immigrants with no criminal record, would be able to work legally and receive some federal benefits. States were not required to provide any benefits. His order expanded on a 2012 program that provided similar relief for people who became illegal immigrants as children.

The case could have repercussions beyond immigration because it would set a precedent for the circumstances under which states can sue the federal government over a range of executive actions. Future presidents, Republican or Democratic, could face new constraints if the states win.

The case is one of the most important the Supreme Court will decide during its current term, along with a challenge to a restrictive Texas abortion law.

If the court sides with Obama, he would have until his term ends in January 2017 to implement the immigration plan. With the U.S. presidential election looming in November, it would be up to the next president to decide whether to keep it in place.

Obama’s action came after a bipartisan immigration policy overhaul bill passed by the Senate died in the House of Representatives.

The immigration issue has driven a wedge between Hispanics, an increasingly important voting bloc, and Republicans, many of whom have offered tough words about illegal immigrants. Most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants are Hispanics, coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The ruling is due just months before the presidential election. The two leading Democratic presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, said on Tuesday the court should uphold Obama’s action. Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio said as president they would undo Obama’s immigration moves.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Obama’s executive action relied on well-established constitutional authority.

He said he recently met with the illegal immigrant parents of U.S citizens and lawful permanent residents, saying that “these law-abiding men and women continue to live in constant fear of being separated from their children. These families must be allowed to step out of the shadows and fully contribute to the country that they love and call home.”

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Julia Edwards; Editing by Will Dunham)

Number of European Migrants, Refugees Now Officially Tops 1 Million

More than 1 million migrants and refugees traveled to Europe in 2015, according to data released Tuesday by the International Office of Migration (IOM).

The office placed the approximate total of refugee and migrant arrivals in Europe at 1,005,504 through Monday. The office said it was the highest flow of displaced people since World War II.

The overwhelming majority of the migrants and refugees arrived by sea, according to the IOM. Approximately 97 percent (971,289) traveled that way, while only 34,215 journeyed by land.
Most of the new arrivals were from South Asia, Africa and Syria, where an ongoing civil war has forced millions of people to flee their homes and travel to other countries in search of new lives.

The data was announced days after a United Nations Refugee Agency report indicated the number of displaced people around the globe likely “far surpassed” 60 million, a record total. That U.N. report covers refugees, asylum seekers and so-called internally displaced people, or those who have been forced to flee their homes but were still currently living in their countries.

The surge in migrant and refugee arrivals has become a contested political issue in Europe, with widespread debate about policies and security. In a joint statement with the IOM, the United Nations Refugee Agency described Europe’s initial reaction to the arrivals as “chaotic,” with thousands of refugees traveling through Greece only to be unable to cross certain borders, but noted “a more coordinated European response is beginning to take shape.”

Still, there remain some concerns about the arrival of refugees — particularly from Syria, the most common place of origin for refugees — as one of the men behind the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris had a forged Syrian passport, fueling concerns that he was posing as a refugee.

“As anti-foreigner sentiments escalate in some quarters, it is important to recognize the positive contributions that refugees and migrants make to the societies in which they live and also honor core European values: protecting lives, upholding human rights and promoting tolerance and diversity,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The United Nations reported that 50 percent of the refugees arriving in Europe were traveling from Syria. Another 20 percent were from Afghanistan and another 7 percent came from Iraq.

The IOM reported 3,692 refugees were killed on their journeys, about 400 more than 2014. The IOM’s director general, William Lacy Swing, called for improvements to the migration process.

“Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all – both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will become their new homes,” Swing said in a statement.

For the First Time in Four Decades, More Mexican Immigrants Leave U.S. Than Enter

The Pew Research Center reported Thursday that more Mexican immigrants are crossing the border to leave the U.S. rather than enter it.

USA Today states that an estimated 870,000 Mexican immigrants entered the United States from 2009 to 2014, but 1 million returned to Mexico, including American-born children. The reasons for the historic shift include reuniting with family, the Great Recession in the United States that made looking for a job extremely difficult, tighter border security, and the fact that Mexico’s economy is improving, according to Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of Hispanic research at the center.

Deportation also has a hand in these statistics, but only 14% of the 1 million were deported.

And while a lot of Mexican immigrants reportedly stated that family was the main reason for leaving, Dowell Myers, a public policy professor at the University of Southern California, told CBS News that the lack of jobs in the United States is the main reason for Mexican immigrants to leave, not family.

“It’s not like all of a sudden they decided they missed their mothers,” Myers said. “The fact is, our recovery from the Great Recession has been miserable. It’s been miserable for everyone.”

While the recover for the U.S. economy has been sluggish, Mexico has thrived over the recent years compared to the tailspins it saw in the 1980’s and 90’s. Inflation is manageable, the peso is stable, and the northern half of the country has boomed with manufacturing centers thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The manufacturing plants produce cars, heavy equipment, and airplanes.

In another twist, CBS News reports that Border Patrol arrested more non-Mexicans than Mexicans in 2014 due to more Central Americans fleeing violence in their countries and seeking asylum in the United States.

Illegal Albanian Immigrants Show Signs Of Ebola

Albanian officials are downplaying the fact that five of 40 illegal immigrants caught sneaking into the country on Thursday are showing signs of being infected with Ebola.

Officials say that the immigrants arrived from Eritrea by sneaking into Europe through Greece.  The immigrants have been taken into quarantine at a hospital about 85 miles from Italy’s closest port.

The revelation of the possible infections comes hours after finding out that one person in Montenegro has been forced into quarantine with symptoms of Ebola.  The person reportedly had entered legally into Montenegro from a West African nation.

European nations are starting to announce steps to protect their countries from Ebola.  Serbia has announced 21-day medical surveillance for anyone who enters the country from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea or Nigeria.

Guinea has declared a nationwide public health emergency because of the current outbreak.  Liberia announced they have obtained doses of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp and have started giving it to victims.

Pastors Banned From Border Detention Facilities

Credentialed pastors are being banned from ministering to the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants being kept at border patrol facilities in Texas and Arizona.

“Border Patrol told us pastors and churches are not allowed to visit,” said Kyle Coffin, the pastor of CrossRoads Church in Tucson, Arizona to Fox News’ Todd Starnes. “It’s pretty heartbreaking that they don’t let anybody in there — even credentialed pastors.”

A Border Patrol spokesman confirmed the surprising ban.

“Due to the unique operational and security challenges of the Nogales Placement Center, religious services provided by outside faith leaders are not possible at this time,” the Border Patrol told me in a statement. “However, CBP’s chaplaincy program is supporting the spiritual needs of the minors for the limited time they are at the center.”

Area churches are even prohibited from donating items like soccer balls or other recreational items for the children.

A counselor that worked at the Lackland Air Force base center said in their entire tenure at the facility not a single minister or chaplain was brought to the children.

Department of Homeland Security Cancels Controversial Program

The Department of Homeland Security has announced the cancellation of a program that had drawn the ire of privacy advocates nationwide.

Homeland Security Secretary ordered the immediate end to a plan by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to collect data on all license plates in the United States and storing them in a massive database.

ICE officials has claimed in their initial request for proposals that the collection of the plates would help law enforcement be able to find and track fugitives.  The database would also be used to help track down immigrants in the country illegally.

“The solicitation, which was posted without the awareness of ICE leadership, has been cancelled,” ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in prepared statement.  “While we continue to support a wide range of technologies to help meet our law enforcement mission, this solicitation will be reviewed to ensure the path forward appropriately meets our operational needs.”

Members of Congress reacted swiftly to the announcement in praising the withdrawal of the proposed program but wondered how something like this could be made public without the knowledge of those in charge of ICE.

Pope Pleads For Refugees and the Homeless

Pope Francis went to give alms Sunday at a Rome parish next to the city’s main railway station on the church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees where he spoke out on the plight of the world’s refugees.

“Let us think of the many migrants, the many refugees and their suffering,” Francis said to those in attendance.  “Their lives are often without jobs and without documents and with a lot of pain.”

The Pope is the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina.   The parish where he spoke on Sunday provides the needs of immigrants and homeless in Rome.

The Pope also spoke bold words against human traffickers that prey on those attempting to reach a better life in a new country.  He called them “merchants of human meat who want to enslave migrants” and asked for governments to focus on not only helping immigrants but jailing traffickers.