The Supreme Court agreed today to review President Obama’s executive action plan on immigration, which has been stalled since he proposed it in November 2014.
Obama’s plan, offered after years of total stalemate with the Republican-led Congress - would shield over 4 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the US from immigration, including many of the 50,000 undocumented Irish living here today.
It appears to be specifically aimed at the long term undocumented who have put down roots in America and who have no criminal records or disqualifying features, and would provide particular relief to undocumented parents whose children are US citizens or legal permanent residents.
Parents of children legally in the US who have lived here continuously since January 1, 2010 and can pass a background check would be eligible to apply for Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and a work permit.
The executive action would also remove the age cap from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), meaning that those who were too old to qualify before may be able to qualify under the new DACA if you came to the U.S. before the age of 16, and have continuously lived in the U.S. since Jan. 1, 2010.
Thirdly, Obama’s immigration reform plan would allow spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents to apply for a waiver so they can get a green card sooner. Under current law, undocumented immigrants must leave the U.S. to get a green card, which may trigger a three-year or 10-year bar that prevents them from entering the U.S. for that amount of time.
The Supreme Court will hear the case throughout the coming months and will issue a decision by the end of June, MSN reports.
The executive action on immigration brought hope to thousands of undocumented immigrants at the end of 2014. Before it could be implemented, however, it was blocked by a number of lower courts when lawmakers from 26 Republican-led states sued on the grounds that Obama had exceeded his realm of authority as president, as outlined by the Constitution, despite the fact that every single president in office since the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed in 1952 (11 in total, from Eisenhower to Obama) has taken some form of immigration-related executive action.
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