The U.S. Supreme Court today reached a tied 4 to 4 vote in the long-awaited case, United States v. Texas, which addressed President Obama’s immigration proposal to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and to create a new program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). These programs are designed to shield millions of people living in the U.S. illegally from deportation and also provide them with work eligibility.
The tied vote leaves in place the lower court’s injunction that halted the President’s proposal, meaning the programs cannot proceed at this time. The lower courts must continue to determine the fate of these programs. In an election year, it is highly unlikely there will be any Congressional or Presidential action.
While this is certainly unfortunate news for the millions of people living in the U.S. illegally, there is unlikely to be any imminent threat of deportation because Congress has provided only enough funding to deal with a small percentage of people who live in the U.S. illegally, and the President retains considerable discretion on whom to deport.