WCBC

June 23rd, 2016 by WCBC Radio

– U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), issued the following statement after the deadlocked Supreme Court issued its ruling in U.S. v. Texas.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s split decision, which blocks the implementation of the president’s executive actions on immigration, including the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. Since our nation’s founding, immigration has been one of the building blocks of American society and the president should have discretion on how best to carry out our nation’s immigration laws given our limited resources and broken immigration system. Immigration enforcement should focus first on removing dangerous criminals from our country, and not tearing apart families with deep roots in our neighborhoods and communities. This split decision will cause more fear and uncertainty for many families about their future in this great nation.

 

“Congress can bring clarity to our immigration system by enacting meaningful comprehensive immigration reform, as the Senate did in 2013. Such reform must include a tough-but-fair pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals.

 

“Yet another 4-4 decision exemplifies why the Senate Republicans must fulfill their constitutional duty to consider the president’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.  It is an unprecedented dereliction of duty for the Senate to refuse to give a hearing and a vote for a nomination of the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate leadership is weakening the integrity and independence of the Supreme Court and undermining the rule of law by purposely trying to shrink the Supreme Court from nine to eight justices. The president has done his job by nominating an extremely well-qualified individual for this vacancy. It’s long past time for the Senate to do its job.”