×
×
Menu
Search

What Does Justice Scalia’s Passing Mean for DAPA?

HomeNews & EventsWhat Does Justice Scalia’s Passing Mean for DAPA?
READ FROM US

Immigration News & Events

Categories

Archives

What Does Justice Scalia’s Passing Mean for DAPA?

Share This Post: facebooktwitterLinkedIn

On February 13, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away after 30 years of service on the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia’s passing leaves the Court with eight justices.

While Justice Scalia was undoubtedly an influential member on the bench, his absence is unlikely to affect the pending case regarding the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program and the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The federal government, seeking to overturn the lower court’s ruling and implement the programs, was always going to need five justices to rule in its favor. Most expected Justice Scalia, along with Justices Thomas and Alito, to vote to uphold the lower court’s ruling to continue to block implementation of the programs.  That left, and continues to leave, six possible votes from the remaining members of the Court.  The federal government therefore needs to get at least five of those remaining six votes in order to win the case and implement DAPA and expanded DACA.  The remaining six justices are: Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor, Roberts, and Kennedy.  The first four of those justices are thought to be likely to vote to rule in favor of the federal government.

If all of this turns out as expected, the decision will come down to whether the federal government can convince either Chief Justice Roberts or Justice Kennedy to rule in its favor. If it can get one or both of those votes, it should be able to win the case and implement the programs later this year.  If it cannot, then the best it will be able to do would be a 4-4 tie, which would leave the lower court’s ruling undisturbed.

Noncitizens with certain criminal convictions may be inadmissible to the U.S., deportable from the U.S., or unable to obtain U.S. citizenship through naturalization. The categories of criminal convictions which cause…

28Jan

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed the 2016 Appropriations Act into law. The Appropriations Act made some significant changes to improve and streamline the H2B program.  Shortly after the…

19Feb

PERSONAL TOUCH AND SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Recognized Leaders In
Immigration Law

Joseph & Hall P.C. is a full-service immigration law firm. We pride ourselves on being nationwide experts in all areas of immigration law, including the practice areas listed below. Our attorneys frequently are asked to speak both locally and nationally on a wide variety of immigration topics. For an overview of each practice area, please click the links below. If you have any questions about how these practice areas may apply to your case, please do not hesitate to contact our firm.

OUR AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

We Are Committed to Your Dreams.

Countless people dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. If your application was rejected by the USCIS, we are here to fight for your best interests.

Get in touch with us. Write us a message.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
×
×
Tap Here To Schedule An Appointment
It's Fast & Easy