Rhode Islanders react to Supreme Court ruling on immigration
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
More than a year after President Obama announced his plan to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., the Supreme Court shut it down. Now, millions of undocumented workers are at risk of deportation.
For Laura Perez, November of 2014 feels like yesterday. She remembers celebrating after President Obama announced his plan to prevent more than four million illegal immigrants from being deported; but now those immigrants are in limbo.
"There are more than five million families right now devastated by the news and it’s very painful because they are so many so many undocumented people that were waiting for the decision."
After President Obama announced his plan, Congress said he overstepped his authority. Thursday, the eight-member Supreme Court voted in a tie, upholding that ruling.
Juan Garcia of the Immigration Action Committee in Rhode Island said this leaves the millions of illegal immigrants in fear because the future of the country’s immigration policy is now in the hands of the next president.
"Go to vote because this election, this election is very important,” Garcia said.
Lee Ann Sennick,the Rhode Island Republican National committeewoman, is pleased with the decision and says this wasn’t just an immigration issue.
"President Obama, through his executive office, actually stepped outside of the bounds of what he is actually legally able to do within the constitution,” said Lee Ann Sennick, the Rhode Island National Committeewoman.
There are only eight Supreme Court justices because Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in February and hasn’t been replaced. President Obama says had his nomination, Merrick Garland, been confirmed, the decision may have gone in his favor.
