In a one page opinion, the United States Supreme Court remanded one of the two “travel ban” cases pending SCOTUS review. The Order remanded Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project back to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals because the case is now “moot” – the Court found no controversy because the challenged Executive Order 13780 “expired on its own terms.” The Court provided no opinion on the merits of the case.
In earlier posts, we also covered Trump v. Hawaii, another challenge to President Trump’s “travel bans.” This case remains pending because the challenged provisions of the March 6th Executive Order have not expired, unlike Executive Order 13780. Specifically, the March 6th Executive Order placed restrictions on the refugee program that remain in effect. The expiration date for this Executive Order is October 24th. We expect to see another iteration of the refugee restrictions or other immigration-related restrictions by October 24th.
More recently on September 24, 2017, President Trump also issued a Proclamation limiting entry into the United States from individuals from six countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. Unlike prior Executive Orders, this Proclamation is relatively more nuanced and does not contain a blanket ban on all travelers from the listed nations.
Shifting gears to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) controversy: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement last month ending DACA was followed by multiple lawsuits against the Administration. Several states including New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia, California, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota, and D.C all filed suits against the Administration citing Constitutional challenges, among others.
An estimated 800,000 individuals relying on DACA will face uncertainty as a result of DACA’s termination. The deadlines for first time and renewal applications have passed. Therefore, barring Congressional or Executive action on the matter, no individual currently working as a result of DACA may be permitted to legally work in the United States once their work permit expires.
Independent of the legal and political debate, ending DACA is likely to have an enormous economic impact on both DACA-authorized employees and their employers. Employers are called to maintain contingency plans should those working under DACA lose their work permits, and ensure continued compliance with immigration laws.