Fourteen months ago, Mr. Obama ordered the creation of a program intended to allow as many as five million illegal immigrants who are the parents of citizens or of lawful permanent residents to apply for a program sparing them from deportation and providing them work permits. The program was called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
Obama Administration Asks Supreme Court to Save Immigration Plan NOV. 20, 2015
Appeals Court Deals Blow to Obamas Immigration Plans NOV. 9, 2015
In Courts, Running Out the Clock on Obama Immigration Plan OCT. 13, 2015
Opinion Editorial
The Supreme Court, the Nativists and Immigrants JAN. 19, 2016
FROM OUR ADVERTISERS
The president has said he took the step after years of frustration with Republicans in Congress who had repeatedly refused to support bipartisan Senate legislation to update immigration laws. In an Oval Office address just before Thanksgiving in 2014, Mr. Obama excoriated Republicans for refusing to cooperate and told millions of illegal immigrants, You can come out of the shadows.
But the presidents promise has gone unfulfilled. A coalition of 26 states, led by Mr. Paxton, a Republican, quickly filed a lawsuit accusing the president of ignoring federal procedures for changing rules and of abusing the power of his office by sidestepping Congress.
White House officials said they were pleased by the courts decision to hear their case, and they expressed optimism that the justices would eventually clear the way for the presidents actions to be carried out.
The policies will make our communities safer. They will make our economy stronger, said Brandi Hoffine, an assistant White House press secretary. They are consistent with the actions taken by presidents of both parties, the laws passed by Congress, and the decisions of the Supreme Court. We are confident that the policies will be upheld as lawful.
Last February, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, Tex., entered a preliminary injunction shutting down the program while the legal case proceeded. The government appealed, and on Nov. 9 a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, affirmed the injunction.