United States v. Texas: A Discussion of the Legal and Policy Issues
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In November 2014, the Obama administration announced the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the creation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. The DAPA and expanded DACA programs, if implemented, would provide work authorization and temporary relief from deportation to roughly four million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Texas and 25 other states, however, are challenging the programs. On April 18th, the case, United States v. Texas, made its way to the US Supreme Court.
In advance of the April 18th oral arguments before the Court, the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) hosted a dialogue on the case’s legal and policy implications on April 13th from 9:00am to 12:30pm at the law offices of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, and Jacobson, LLP in Washington D.C.
Agenda
WELCOME
Kevin Appleby
Senior Director of International Migration Policy
Center for Migration Studies
PROFILE OF THE DACA/DAPA RECIPIENTS
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
SESSION I: LEGAL ARGUMENTS OF UNITED STATES V. TEXAS
Panelists discussed the four issues on which the Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States v. Texas. They also discussed how the Court may possibly decide this case, and the scope of the Executive’s prosecutorial authority in the immigration arena.
Moderator
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
Overview of the Legal Issues in the Case
Karen Grisez
Special Counsel and Public Service Counsel, Litigation
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, and Jacobson, LLP
Speakers
Bo Cooper
Partner
Fragomen Worldwide
Former General Counsel, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Justice
Julie Myers Wood
Chief Executive Officer
Guidepost Solutions, LLC
Former Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security
SESSION II: POLICY AND POLITICAL ISSUES
Panelists discussed the policy and political implications of the Supreme Court’s decision, including: the underlying policy objectives of the Administration’s executive orders: the political consequences of the decision for the November election and beyond; how the decision could impact the future of immigration reform in Congress; and issues regarding the possible implementation of the executive orders.
Moderator
Kevin Appleby
Senior Director of International Migration Policy
Center for Migration Studies
Speakers
Jeanne Atkinson
Executive Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
Seung Min Kim
Congressional Reporter
POLITICO
Frank Sharry
Founder and Executive Director
America’s Voice
Mark Walsh
Supreme Court Correspondent, American Bar Association Journal and Education Week
Contributor, SCOTUSblog
Speaker Profiles
Kevin Appleby
Senior Director of International Migration Policy
Center for Migration Studies
Kevin Appleby is the senior director of international migration policy for the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) and the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN). Prior to joining CMS and SIMN, Mr. Appleby served as the director of migration policy and public affairs of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for more than 16 years. He has also worked as deputy director of the Maryland Catholic Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Mr. Appleby has testified before Congress on immigration issues and represented the US Catholic bishops on these issues at public events and with the media. He is co-editor of the volume, On Strangers No Longer: Perspectives on the US-Mexican Catholic Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on Migration. Mr. Appleby worked for Senator Russell Long of Louisiana and select committees of the US Senate, including the Senate Select Committee on the Iran-Contra Affair. He received his BA from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a law degree from the University of Maryland.
Jeanne Atkinson
Executive Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
Jeanne M. Atkinson is the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Her passion for immigration was sparked while interning with Catholic Charities in 1987, during which time she focused on legalization. Ms. Atkinson served as the long-time director of Catholic Charities’ Immigration Legal Services (ILS) program for the Archdiocese of Washington, where she directed their highly active and successful legal services program, as well as the Catholic Charities’ Refugee Center. She was a partner in establishing the Family Justice Center in Montgomery County and is a member of the board of directors of Catholics for Family Peace. Ms. Atkinson holds a JD from American University’s Washington College of Law and is a member of the Pennsylvania bar.
Bo Cooper
Partner
Fragomen Worldwide
Former General Counsel, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
Bo Cooper is a partner in Fragomen Worldwide’s Washington, DC office where he leads the firm’s Government Strategies and Compliance Group. He provides strategic business immigration advice to a variety of clients, including companies, hospitals, research institutions, schools, and universities. Mr. Cooper served as general counsel of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from 1999 until February 2003, when he was responsible for the transition of immigration services to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He was principal legal advisor to the INS during two administrations, at a time when immigration ranked among the most sensitive issues on the national public policy agenda. Mr. Cooper was involved in negotiating immigration-related agreements between the United States and other governments, and has acted as a US delegate to international organizations.
Walter Dellinger
Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Douglas B. Maggs Emeritus Professor of Law, Duke Law School
Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States
Walter Dellinger serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Partner for O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He is an influential authority on appellate and US Supreme Court decisions, lending his experience as a former solicitor general and decades of legal knowledge to amicus briefs, a multitude of pro bono clients, and public and private companies involved in bet-the-company litigation. Mr. Dellinger also holds the designation of the Douglas B. Maggs Emeritus Professor of Law at Duke University. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Lawyer.
Mr. Dellinger served as assistant attorney general and head of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) from 1993 to 1996. He was acting solicitor general for the 1996-97 term of the US Supreme Court. During that time, he argued nine cases before the Court, the most by any solicitor general in more than 20 years. Mr. Dellinger’s arguments included cases dealing with physician-assisted suicide, the line item veto, the cable television act, the Brady Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the constitutionality of remedial services for parochial school children.
After serving in early 1993 in the White House as an advisor to President Bill Clinton on constitutional issues, Mr. Dellinger was nominated by the president to be assistant attorney general. He was confirmed by the US Senate in October 1993 and served for three years. As head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Mr. Dellinger issued opinions on a wide variety of issues, including: the president’s authority to deploy US forces in Haiti and Bosnia; whether the trade agreements required treaty ratification; and a major review of separation of powers questions. He provided extensive legal advice on questions arising out of the shutdown of the federal government, on national debt ceiling issues, and on loan guarantees for Mexico.
Karen T. Grisez
Special Counsel, Public Service Counsel
Litigation
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Karen T. Grisez is public service counsel in the Washington, DC office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where she manages the office’s pro bono program and provides both supervision and direct representation to pro bono clients in immigration cases, as well as in traditional poverty law areas. She has extensive litigation experience in federal courts, before the Board of Immigration Appeals and in Immigration Courts around the country, and also practices in other courts in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Ms. Grisez is also a frequent speaker and trainer on legal topics relating primarily to asylum, other forms of immigration relief, immigration court reform, detention, ethics, representation of victims of torture and trauma, and on various models for delivery of pro bono services generally. She has testified twice before Congress on immigration-related topics.
Ms. Grisez is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Migration Studies based in New York. She is also a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, special advisor to the ABA Commission on Immigration and its past chair. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, serves on its national Pro Bono Committee, and is chair of the DC chapter’s Pro Bono Committee. Ms. Grisez also serves on the Board of Directors of the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition, the Board of Directors of the Washington Council of Lawyers and is a trustee of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
Ms. Grisez earned her JD in 1990 from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America, and her BA, summa cum laude, in 1987 from the University of Maryland. She is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and of Maryland, as well as to a number of federal courts.
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
Donald Kerwin directs the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), a New York-based educational institute/think tank devoted to the study of international migration, to the promotion of understanding between immigrants and receiving communities, and to public policies that safeguard the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees, and newcomers. CMS was established in 1964 by the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles, Scalabrinians. It is a member of the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), which consists of more than 270 organizations that serve, safeguard, and advocate for migrants throughout the world. Mr. Kerwin previously worked for 16 years at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), serving as that agency’s executive director for 15 years. CLINIC, a subsidiary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is a public interest legal corporation that supports a national network of charitable legal programs for immigrants. He has also served as interim executive director at CLINIC; as vice president for programs and non-resident senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute; and as an associate fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center and co-director of Woodstock’s Theology of Migration Project. Mr. Kerwin has also served on numerous boards, commissions, and task forces. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas.
Seung Min Kim
Congressional Reporter
POLITICO
Seung Min Kim is an assistant editor who covers Congress for POLITICO. Previously, she edited the Arena and served as a web producer. Before POLITICO, Ms. Kim worked at USA Today and the Star-Ledger of Newark. She also completed internships at the Des Moines Register, the St. Petersburg Times, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Ms. Kim graduated with degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Iowa, and also has a master’s degree in journalism from American University. She is the current president of the Washington, DC chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association.
Julie Myers Wood
Chief Executive Officer
Guidepost Solutions, LLC
Former Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US Department of Homeland Security
Julie Myers Wood is the chief executive officer of Guidepost Solutions, a leading investigative and compliance consulting firm. She joined the firm in 2012, as president of its Compliance, Federal Practice, and Software Solutions division. Prior to joining Guidepost Solutions, Ms. Wood was the former founder and president of ICS Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in compliance, risk assessments, immigration and customs investigations.
Prior to joining the private sector, Ms. Wood served as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leading its largest investigative component and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government with a budget of nearly $6 billion and 15,000 employees. In supervising ICE’s investigative activity, she oversaw the agency’s wide variety of AML and trade compliance (OFAC, EAR, ITAR) investigations and private sector compliance programs, testified about best practices and investigations, and enforced the Export Administration Act and related export control regulations. Under her leadership, the agency developed new methods and proposed legislative language to combat emerging trends relating to trade-based money laundering, check cashing and money remitters, and stored value cards.
Ms. Wood’s previous leadership positions in the federal government include assistant secretary for export enforcement at the US Department of Commerce and chief of staff for the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice. She also served as deputy assistant secretary (Money Laundering and Financial Crimes) at the US Treasury Department, where she helped draft regulations relating to Title III of the Patriot Act, coordinated the US government’s national report/strategy on money laundering, and oversaw Treasury Enforcement activities relating to OFAC. Ms. Wood served as an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where she prosecuted criminal cases including financial crimes, securities fraud, and other white-collar criminal cases. Prior to government service, she was an associate at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago, and she clerked for the Honorable C. Arlen Beam of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Frank Sharry
Founder and Executive Director
America’s Voice
Frank Sharry is founder and executive director of America’s Voice. With the support of allies in the immigration reform community, he created the organization in early 2008 to focus on communications and media as part of a renewed effort to win comprehensive immigration reform. Prior to heading America’s Voice, Mr. Sharry served as executive director of the National Immigration Forum for 17 years. The Forum, based in Washington, DC, is one of the nation’s premier immigration policy organizations, and has been at the center of every major legislative and policy debate related to immigration for the past quarter of a century. Mr. Sharry also served as executive director of Centro Presente, a local organization working with Central American refugees in the greater Boston area.
Mark Walsh
Supreme Court Correspondent, American Bar Association Journal and Education Week
Contributor, SCOTUSblog
Mark Walsh has covered the US Supreme Court for more than 20 years, including for Education Week and as a contributor to the ABA Journal, the magazine of the American Bar Association. Mr. Walsh also contributes to SCOTUSblog.