Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Obama’s Immigration Plan

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear a challenge to President Obama’s plan to shield certain illegal immigrants from deportation. The challenge was filed by the state of Texas, and joined by 25 additional states including Georgia. The president’s proposed executive action, which was announced in November 2014, would allow undsocumented parents of American citizens or lawful residents to stay in the United States. Federal courts have blocked the plan three times so far.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens issued this statement following the court’s decision to take the case:

We are a nation built on laws, and the President simply does not have the power to bypass Congress and single-handedly change the law to achieve his policy goals. I look forward to continuing to defend the rule of law against the President’s unilateral action.

The court is expected to hear the case this spring, and make a decision by late June. Should the court decide in favor of the president, the administration has said it wants to implement the plan prior to the president leaving office exactly one year from today.

9th District Congressman Doug Collins defended Congress’s right to make law. In a statement to the press, Collins said,

Since my first day in office, I have repeatedly fought against President Obama’s numerous attempts to circumvent Congress and voted numerous times to rein in the President’s end-run around Congress. In fact, my first action this Congress was to introduce legislation—the Immigration Accountability Act—to prohibit funding from being used to implement the President’s unilateral actions to grant de-facto executive amnesty to illegal immigrants.

I hope that the Supreme Court will recognize the separation of powers, rather than legislating from the bench as we have seen them do all too often in recent decisions. The 26 states who have brought forth this lawsuit, of which Georgia is a part, are right to challenge this unconstitutional overreach that rewards illegal immigrants at the expense of American citizens.

The President has tried to circumvent issues ranging from Second Amendment Rights, to water rights, to the immigration system. For that reason, I have cosponsored legislation to censure the President of the United States.

I sincerely hope the Supreme Court’s decision will not only recognize that Congress is the branch with the ability to make laws, but also will stand up for the American people by preventing the Administration from unilaterally implementing harmful policies.