SCOTUS Kicks Off Nine-Month Term



Last term, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) appeared to largely avoid controversial issues. However, this week, SCOTUS launched the October 2019 term intent on diving into an intense docket of issues including: abortion, the Second Amendment, religious liberty and the Civil Rights Act.

Additionally, the Court is expected to rule on two separate immigration-related issues.

  • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): On November 12, SCOTUS will finally consider President Trump’s decision to phase out DACA.

In 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the administration would begin to wind down the program in accordance with President Trump’s 2016 campaign promise. Immediately following the announcement, multiple lower courts began ruling on the issue eventually issuing nationwide injunctions that permitted the program to continue for the approximately 690,000 existing illegal alien beneficiaries.

To read more on DACA please click here and here.

  • Law Encouraging Illegal Immigrants to Enter to the US: Consideration date TBD.

In 2010, federal prosecutors brought charges against Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, a U.S. citizen who ran an immigration consultancy business in California, for taking money from illegal aliens to file frivolous visa applications while they remained in the country indefinitely. In 2013, Sineneng-Smith was convicted of violating a law, which prohibits inducing or encouraging illegal aliens to “come, enter, or reside” in the United States, including for financial gain.

Several years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law was overly broad and criminalized speech protected by the First Amendment. In turn, the Trump administration appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court pleading that the law is important to stopping those who enrich themselves by encouraging illegal immigration.

Please stay tuned to FAIR as we monitor these cases throughout the term.

About Author

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Heather Ham-Warren joined FAIR’s Government Relations department in 2018. In her role, Heather advocates for FAIR’s interests before Congress, the Administration, and federal agencies. She also reviews and analyzes federal legislation and regulations, as well as conducts research on a wide variety of legal and immigration-related topics. Heather brings with her several years of political and legislative experience having worked for legislatures at the both the state and federal levels. She began her career in D.C. working on Capitol Hill—most recently serving as Legislative Director for a Florida Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law.

2 Comments

  1. avatar

    Gotta love California. Tons of liberals willing to sacrifice the state to prove how “woke” they are when it comes to immigration. In the process they have turned the state into a third world cesspool. There is forever an endless pile of money to provide benefits for illegals but no money to take care of the 50,000 homeless in Los Angeles and the sidewalks filled with needles, garbage, and human waste. They can’t even keep the power on because the winds get too high. Never mind that there has to be constant maintenance to keep lines clear, which they make no allowance for. And then they spent many billions on a “high speed” train that will not be high speed, will not go to the places it was supposed to, and will cost at least twice the estimates. But anyone who questioned this boondoggle got called a right winger. Stupidity squared.

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