Rep. Gutiérrez On Supreme Court Tie In United States V. Texas

Statement

On Thursday, Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement of a 4-4 tie in the case of United States v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court case related to DACA and DAPA, among the President's executive actions on immigration.

"We are disappointed but not defeated. The Supreme Court decided not to decide the case and so the strategy of Republicans using the courts and inaction in Congress to bring all policy changes to a halt has prevailed for now. Four to five million people will not be able to come forward to affirmatively apply for temporary protection from deportation, criminal background checks, and the ability to work legally, but 45 million Latino citizens will be energized and mobilized by the Court's failure to decide. The cost to the nation of not having a full complement of Justices on the Supreme Court lays bare the choices in November. It will not be difficult for most people to decide if the ninth Justice should be selected by Secretary Clinton or her opponent and to decide which party will fight for legal immigration and legalization in the Congress.

In the time being, the Republicans cannot force the President to deport anyone and the priorities he set -- designating families and individuals who pose no threat as the lowest priority for deportation -- will continue. The executive's lawful exercise of prosecutorial discretion is not affected by the Court's failure to act and will continue. Additional actions taken by this President will help integrate immigrants into our communities, even if the DACA and DAPA programs continue to be on hold. And I will redouble my efforts to hold President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security to their policy on prosecutorial discretion so that low priority cases do not result in detention or deportation.

The "no, no, no" from Republicans cannot last. They say no to preventing gun violence. They say no to women's health and Planned Parenthood; no to addressing or even acknowledging climate change; no to the LGBT community; and no to addressing immigration reform. But you cannot hold back progress in a democracy forever. Almost every single undocumented immigrant in this county -- the vast majority of whom have been here ten years or more -- they are going to live here for the rest of their lives with or without DACA or DAPA. That is just reality. Eventually our policies will catch up with reality so that we have a legal and orderly immigration system, not one based in chaos and the fantasy of mass deportation."

Rep. Gutiérrez represents the Fourth District of Illinois, is a Member of the Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, and is the Co-Chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

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