In a much-anticipated decision, the Supreme Court issued a tied decision Thursday in United States v. Texas, which dealt with the constitutionality of the executive orders President Barack Obama issued regarding parents who were illegal immigrants but whose children were citizens or legal residents (commonly known as DAPA).
The Court’s opinion in its entirety: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.”
As we’ve noted many times, with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, the Court has only eight members. Tie votes allow the last lower court ruling to remain in place, as happened here.
This is far from the last word on DAPA, however. There are additional appeals the government can make, and whoever is nominated by the next President to fill Scalia’s seat on the bench will have a very critical vote.
Incredibly brief decision beneath for good measure:
UNITED STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. TEXAS, ET AL.
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*UPDATE 12:30PM (MC)*
President Obama spoke to the press after the court made their decision:
“For more than two decades now, our immigration system … has been broken, and the fact that the Supreme Court was not able to issue a decision today doesn’t just set the system back even further, it takes us further from the country that we aspire to be,” Obama said at the White House.—Obama called the ruling frustrating to those who want to “bring a rationality” to the immigration system and to allow the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally to “come out of the shadows.”—“In the end, it is my firm belief that immigration is not something to fear,” Obama said. “We don’t have to wall ourselves off from those who may not look like us right now, or pray like we do, or have a different last name, because being an American is something more than that. What makes us American is our shared commitment to an ideal that all of us are created equal.”
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