Brooklyn’s elected officials reacted with alarm, sadness and disbelief at today’s U.S. Supreme Court Decision affirming an appeals court ruling that President Obama abused his presidential powers in his executive action that would have shielded as many as five million undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to legally work in the United States
The 4-4 tie vote means the lower court’s ruling is affirmed because the Supreme Court has needs a majority vote to overturn the lower court’s decision. The decision came with no legal reasons behind the vote and was just nine words long. “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.”
Obama’s 2014 executive action called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA would have allowed as many as five million unauthorized immigrants who were the parents of citizens or of lawful permanent residents to apply for a program that would spare them from deportation and provide them with work permits.
“On behalf of our city’s immigrant families and all New Yorkers, I am extraordinarily disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision on the President’s executive actions on immigration,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, noting the City has roughly a quarter million undocumented immigrants.
“New York City, like so many cities across the country, is stronger when all of our residents are secure in their ability to provide for their families and contribute to their community. New York City will continue to build an inclusive and welcoming city for all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status through programs like IDNYC and ActionNYC. Immigrants help make New York the best city in the world. We stand with our immigrant neighbors, co-workers, friends, and loved ones,” he added.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams called the court’s deadlock a sad reflection of the deadlock across the country’s political landscape in taking any meaningful step, large or small, toward resolving the futures of millions of innocent children and families who have been left in the shadows of our society.
“Inaction is an action in and of itself, and forces that influence Congress have led to ‘actions’ that are damaging the soul — and the safety — of America a little more every day. I am thankful that Brooklyn, a community of more than 2.6 million people of which nearly half speak a language other than English at home, stands as a shining example of how immigration and diversity have made us a safer and stronger place to live, work, and experience the American dream,” said Adams.
“Rather than lay down in defeat, we must rise up with determination to more forcefully advocate for a fix to our broken immigration policies, including organizing to elect leaders who are committed to change — and even compromise — over the continued decay of our common democracy,” he added.
City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, chair of the Committee on Immigration and a Mexican-American, said the highest court may be divided but hearts and hopes across the country continue to be united around one simple truth: the immigration law system is broken and the country is going to need more than executive orders.
“Let us turn our organizing efforts to Comprehensive Immigration reform. That is what we deserve, that is what we will fight for and that will be our collective message come November as we enter the voting booths in every state, ” Menchaca said.
