SCOTUS takes up immigration challenge

Matthews: Joining me right now is U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii. Senator, thanks for joining us.

Senator Hirono: Good to be here, Chris.

Matthews: It looks to me like a lot of people are affected by, if the Court goes back and it's 4-4 tie, means it goes back to the appellate level, stops the President in his tracks, and would also mean that 5 million people are afraid of being deported. Is that likely to happen?

Senator Hirono: Exactly. So a tie 4-4 decision would really indicate that this is not the way things should happen and that the Republicans in the Senate should do their jobs and have a hearing on the President's nominee and we should get on with the advice and consent because we can't have this court vacancy going on for a year, which is where we're heading right now. But this, this particular decision is going to be so important as you said to the 5 million undocumented for the DAPA and DACA families at the underpinning of the President’s executive orders, which by the way, is nothing new.

Republican and Democratic Presidents have issued executive orders and taken administrative actions related to immigration. And so as far as I’m concerned the President is well within his authority to issue the executive actions and it impacts 5 million people and families who live in daily fear of being deported, not to mention the 11 million undocumented people in our country.

As an immigrant myself, when I was out there on the steps of the Supreme Court today, I could really relate to so many of the advocates who were there just hoping that the Supreme Court would support the President.

Matthews: You came from Japan, right?

Senator Hirono: That’s right. My mother brought me to this country, like so many others coming to this country, in hopes of a better life because she escaped an abusive marriage from my father in Japan. We started with nothing. That's the dream that so many people have in our country and why the President has said in addition to the executive orders, which I totally support, we need to do comprehensive immigration reform in our country.

Matthews: What a sterling example, you are, of a better American. Thank you much, Senator Mazie Hirono.