Hirono Urges Supreme Court To Uphold President’s Immigration Actions

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced that she and 224 other Members of Congress today will file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the United States v. Texas case, in which Texas and 25 other states sued to block implementation of the President’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. The Administration’s DAPA and DACA programs are on hold until the case is resolved by the Supreme Court, leaving workers and families across the country in limbo due to our nation’s broken immigration system.

A section from the brief reads:

“Apart from its humaneness in keeping families intact, the DAPA Guidance facilitates the implementation of the Secretary’s priorities and thus promotes the efficient and effective execution of the immigration laws consistent with the limited enforcement resources available. The Guidance does this by encouraging eligible persons to submit to a background check so they can be identified and classified, and by enabling those with an economic need to support themselves lawfully.”

The amicus brief filed by Democratic members of Congress makes it clear that DAPA and expanded DACA are based on laws enacted by Congress that grant the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) broad discretion to determine how to best enforce our country’s immigration laws.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Texas on April 18, 2016.

In December 2015, Senator Hirono joined 33 Senators and 184 Representatives in authoring a separate amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the case.

As the only immigrant currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Senator Hirono is a leading advocate for fixing our broken immigration system, and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 113^th Congress she was one of the authors of the Senate’s 2013 comprehensive immigration reform legislation.