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If you were expecting a calm before the U.S. Supreme Court immigration storm, think again.
The Supreme Court is set to rule sometime this month -- no one knows when -- on the legality of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, the program that President Barack Obama instituted by executive order in 2014.
DAPA, as it's known, allows parents of U.S. citizens or legal residents relief from deportation and lets them apply for work permits if they meet certain conditions. Obama's executive action also expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program announced in 2012. DACA defers deportation for those brought to the United States illegally as children.
Texas and 25 other states sued over the executive action, saying it goes beyond presidential authority and will cost them millions of dollars in public benefits to the estimated 4 million people who would be granted legal status by the programs.
It is unknown how the court will rule or how the court vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year might affect the ruling. If the justices come to a 4-4 tie in the case, lower court rulings that block DAPA would stand.
Even as the Obama administration fights in court to stop deportations of people already in the United States, it also seems bent on deporting those still seeking asylum here from Central America, especially women and children.
