No matter where Florida residents stand on immigration reform, no one can deny that thousands upon thousands of lives across the country are directly impacted by deportation guidelines every year. In addition to those people who may be deported from the U.S., many of whom are parents, U.S. immigration law also affects countless children who are living in the country legally. It is for that reason that so many people are personally invested in the legal dispute revolving around President Obama’s executive action to implement immigration reform.
In recent months, President Obama implemented the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, which was intended to prevent the deportation of undocumented immigrants with American children. The program instituted through an executive order was expected to apply to over 180,000 undocumented immigrants currently living in Florida, and would complement another program already in effect. However, DAPA was suspended after a Texas judge imposed an injunction against the President’s executive order.
Now, the injunction continues to stand for the time being as a federal appeals court recently ruled in favor of halting DAPA. Some political opponents of President Obama’s executive order in Florida did concede that they would not challenge the perspective immigration programs unless there was a legal route to do so, and some immigration activists claim that the plans will ultimately be approved. There is no word on whether or when the President’s executive order will go into effect, though. Even so, the Obama administration is expected to continue pursuing its legal case.
Source: Tampa Bay Times, “Court decision blocking Obama’s immigration plan could affect 182,000 people in Florida,” Alex Leary, May 27, 2015