U.S. Supreme Court to rule on Obama's Executive Action

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Texas et al. v. U.S. et al. to review whether President Obama can proceed with his executive action to defer deportation and grant work authorization to the nearly 11 million individuals living in the United States without lawful status.

At the heart of the issue is the constitutionality of the programs released by the Obama administration in November of 2014, called DAPA and expanded DACA, that would bring millions of unlawful immigrants out of the shadows.

DAPA is intended to cover the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. DACA 2.0, as it has been called, applies to certain individuals who came to the U.S. under the age of sixteen and are seeking or have obtained an education.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this April and a decision is likely to be made by June. Twenty six states filed suit to stop DAPA and the expanded DACA from being implemented in December of 2014. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction in February 2015, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the injunction on November 9. 2015. The Obama administration petitioned the Supreme Court for immediate review of the Fifth Circuit's decision on November 20. 2015.

Read more about what the Fifth Circuit has done to halt the executive action here.

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Lauren Wallis is an immigration attorney at Brewer & Lormand, PLLC. Email her your immigration questions here.