For Immediate Release
Date: Friday, May 29, 2015
Contact: Salvador Sarmiento, sgsarmiento@ndlon.org
NDLON Calls for Explanation and Action from White House Following Decision to Delay Appeal
(Los Angeles)—In an article appearing in the New York Times today, anonymous sources in the Obama Administration offered a bizarre rationale for the decision not to pursue Supreme Court review of the 5th Circuit’s denial of its stay motion. As Times reporter Michael Shear reported:
“[A]dministration officials on Wednesday said the decision not to ask the Supreme Court to allow the program to move forward immediately reflects a practical reality: Even if the justices had given the green light to begin implementing the program, the continuing legal fight would probably have scared away most of the undocumented immigrants who could apply for it.”
Chris Newman, Legal Director at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), issued the following statement in reaction:
“This excuse for not maximizing appeal opportunities appears to be false, misleading, and counterproductive, and we call for immediate clarification from the White House. If this is, in fact, the reason it did not pursue Supreme Court review at this stage, it should say so on the record so there can be accurate information conveyed to the millions of people whose lives are most impacted by the Obama Administration’s repeated decision to delay- over several years- the use of authority it had since it entered office in 2009.
“To cite immigrant fear as an excuse for the Administration’s flat-footed implementation and defense of DAPA is particularly ironic because the President’s own unnecessarily harsh deportation policy, not the decision of the 5th Circuit, has instilled fear of and among immigrants. Indeed, the courageous leadership of undocumented migrants has been the single most powerful force compelling reform of the Obama Administration’s unjust and discriminatory immigration policy, and the country has immigrants’ courage to thank for defending cherished constitutional values.
“If the Obama Administration is genuinely concerned about allaying fear within the undocumented community, there are two steps it could take immediately. First, it could clarify that DHS will not deport, under any circumstances, people who would otherwise be eligible for DAPA. Such a clarification would not be inconsistent with the wrongheaded injunction recently upheld by the 5th Circuit. Second, the Administration should end, rather than rebrand, its disastrous Se Communities deportation program which led to the Arizonfication of the country. It is now a fact acknowledged by both DHS and the President’s own 21st Century Police Report that the decision to enlist police as enforcers of civil immigration law have caused distrust in law enforcement.
“We urge the White House to take every available opportunity to defend and expand protective policies announced on November 20, 2014.”
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