President Obama did not pass the immigration action bill through Congress. In reaction to this, Texas along with 17 other states are suing the Administration because the states’ governors feel that the act was unconstitutional.
“Obama doesn’t have the constitutional authority for this action and he knows it,” junior Cade Palmer said. “On November 19th the Justice Department released a letter that he did not have the executive power for this action.”
Last month, President Obama granted amnesty to 5 million immigrants. However, he did not pass his bill through the legislative branch, but instead passed it executively.
“What needs to happen is that Congress needs to step in and I believe the President did this to force Congress’ hand,” senior Mason Malone said. “But it’s interesting to note these two sides of the President.”
Eightteen states are filing lawsuits against the Administration with future Texas governor Greg Abbott leading the lawsuit. The court-case is believed the begin next year, but there is no set date so far of when it will begin.
“I’m excited that out of everybody, Greg Abbott, as the governor-elect of Texas, is the one leading the charge against Obama’s overreach,” Palmer said.
However, many citizens believe that the case will not be successful because the states are outnumbered nearly two to one on their case belief. Also, with NYC mayor DeBlasio leading, a coalition of Mayors, called Cities United for Immigration Action, are backing Obama on his decision. They believe that the immigration action will strengthen their cities economies, according to the coalition.
“Depending on the stance they take when going to court on these lawsuit, it’s possible that some may be successful with their lawsuits, but considering not many will take the right angle, I suspect many states won’t succeed,” freshman Sabrina Smith said.
To some, however, a loss at court will not be necessarily a disappointment. The Immigration Action would allow parents of legal citizens and residents to acquire legal work documents.
“What most people don’t understand is the Immigration Action only affects people who have american-born children, and have been here since before 2010 or before 16 years of age,” ‘14 White Oak Alumni Carmen Soto said.
On a day to day basis, many undocumented families worry about the government knocking on their door and asking for an ID or getting pulled over while driving. Some people, such as Soto, believe that Obama’s action was unlawful, but they believe that many families now have hope at a good life.
“I hope it’ll go through. For many people I know, this will be something great,” Soto said. “Parents who worry about their children coming home to being orphans won’t have that fear anymore.”