PRESS STATEMENT
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Contact: Eben Cathey | eben@tnimmigrant.org
Undocumented Tennesseans Continue to Wait, Fight for Relief
Nashville - This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 4-4 in the case of Texas vs. United States, the lawsuit brought by Texas, Tennessee, and 24 other states against President Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration. As a result of the court’s deadlock, two programs that would have allowed more than 4 million Americans and an estimated 38,000 Tennesseans to apply for a deferral from deportation and employment authorization remain blocked.
The split decision by the Supreme Court will not set any precedent, but allows the decisions of lower courts to stand. Legal experts agree that the president’s actions are constitutional and well-established: every U.S. president since Eisenhower has exercised similar executive authority on immigration. The lawsuit against the programs was never grounded in law or history, but was a politically-motivated attack on immigrant families.
Today, our system has failed immigrant families. In 2013, Congress failed immigrant communities when the House of Representatives failed to vote on a bi-partisan immigration bill that passed the Senate 68-32. Now, the judicial system has again failed immigrant communities by reaching an impasse on a highly politicized court case that controls the future of millions of people and their families. We are ashamed that our state and our Attorney General have played a role in delaying justice for immigrant community members across the country.
The following is a quote from Stephanie Teatro, Co-Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition:
"We are outraged by the court's decision that effectively denies justice and opportunity to 38,000 Tennessee families. This is a devastating loss, not only for affected families but for our entire state. Attorney General Slatery put politics over people when he joined this politically motivated lawsuit that was never in the best interest of our state. We will continue to fight in our local communities, at the state legislature, and across the country for the rights of families to stay together. Despite today's loss, immigrant families are here to stay."
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TIRRC is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has worked to develop immigrant leadership, build the capacity of its immigrant-led member organizations, help immigrant community members understand and engage in the civic process, and educate the public about policies that would better promote integration of new immigrants and facilitate their full participation in US society. In just a few years TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.