IRLI Files Brief in U.S. Supreme Court in Support of Arizona's Right to Refuse Benefits to Illegal Aliens

Article subtitle: 
Returning the Rule of Law to the People of Arizona
Article publisher: 
Immigration Reform Law Institute
Article date: 
Friday, April 28, 2017
Article category: 
National Issues
Medium
Article Body: 

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief (attached here) in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the State of Arizona which was sued by an illegal alien pressure group to force the state into granting eligibility for driver's licenses to millions of illegal aliens falling under the Obama Administration's lawless Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In the case of Brewer v. Arizona Dream Act Coalition (Civil Action No. 16-1180), Arizona is asking the Supreme Court to hear the case and reverse the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which ruled last year that Arizona's policy is preempted by federal law.

In its brief, IRLI argued that the Ninth Circuit erred because the Supremacy Clause makes "laws" supreme, not executive branch deferral of the enforcement of such laws, such as DACA. Second, IRLI argued that the court erred by relying on the false proposition that the Executive Branch, on its own authority, has the power to alter or redraft the terms of the statutes it is charged with enforcing. Lastly, IRLI argued that the court erred by finding that Arizona created its own immigration categories by treating DACA beneficiaries differently than special applicants for Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status. The latter enjoy a statutory pathway to citizenship, albeit an uncertain one, unlike DACA recipients who have no such statutory path and are simply unlawfully present.

Dale L. Wilcox, IRLI's Executive Director, commented, "The Ninth Circuit's decision that Obama's controversial DACA policy can preempt Arizona's driver's license rules violates basic preemption and federalism principles." Wilcox further commented, "In its brief, IRLI urges the Supreme Court to hear the case to clarify that the Executive Branch acting outside of congressional intent cannot preempt state law. We will continue the fight for federalism and states' rights and defend the rule of law."