The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to reject challenges to the University of Texas at Austin's affirmative action program, with a vote of 4-3. Just seven justices participated in the decision, according to the New York Times. The late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat remains unfilled, while Justice Elena Kagan had previously recused herself from participation in the vote.
President Barack Obama's immigration plan was effectively blocked because of a 4-4 tie. The plan was designed to give protection to those living in constant fear of deportation, with the Associated Pressnoting Thursday’s ruling "effectively kills" the plan for the duration of Obama's tenure. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, dubbed Obama's program "null and void" shortly after the ruling:
The immigration tie vote now allows a ruling by the lower court to stay in place, with the federal appeals court in New Orleans asserting that Obama "lacked the authority" to make millions of immigrants potentially eligible for required work permits.
"We are not a country that guarantees equal outcomes but we do strive to provide an equal shot to everybody and that's what was upheld today," Obama said during a speech following the Supreme Court' ruling on the University of Texas' affirmative action program. Obama also spoke directly to critics of his immigration proposal, which was blocked Thursday.
Our founders conceived this country as a refuge for the world, Obama said. "[But] our immigration system, everybody acknowledges, has been broken." According to Obama, today's decision "takes us further from the country that we aspire to be." Obama also took the opportunity to clear up some facts surrounding his administration's immigration record.
"Since I took office, we’ve deployed more border agents and technology to our southern border than ever before that has helped cut border crossings to their lowest levels since the 1970s," Obama said. "It is important to understand what today means. This means that the people who might have benefited from the expanded Deferred Action policy will remain low priorities for enforcement." Obama added that the SCOTUS tie on an expanded immigration policy was a direct result of Republicans' refusal to consider his nomination of Merrick Garland.
A ruling on abortion, which marks the most important SCOTUS decision on the issue in decades, is also expected this week. This case also stems from Texas and will have profound impact on abortion clinics in the state, USA Todayreports. The case challenges the controversial state law that may leave as few as nine clinics deemed legally operable, due to the law's strict standards.
The abortion decision will have ramifications across multiple states, including Louisiana and Arkansas. "There's no way, absolutely no way, that one or two physicians could handle the caseload," Kathaleen Pittman, an administrator at the Hope Medical Group for Women in Louisiana, told the Guardian of the impact these restrictions have on clinics. "It would be devastating to the region's access."
