Supreme Court says it won't reconsider its Obama immigration plan ruling

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published 3 October 2016

On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would not be honoring the Obama administration's request for a rehearing on its immigration plan. The decision leaves the court's previous decision intact, which was a 4-4 split among the eight justices in June that upheld a lower court opinion blocking the program. The court did not offer a comment with its rejection.

Obama's plan would have shielded more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from being deported. The Obama administration had requested the justices reconsider the case once the late Justice Antonin Scalia had been replaced on the bench — though it's unclear when that will be, as Obama's nominee Merrick Garland has been denied a hearing since he was nominated back in March.

In a petition, the Obama administration argued that there is "a strong need for definitive resolution by this court at this stage" and urged the court not to allow a deadlock to "leave in place a nationwide injunction of such significance." Obama originally announced the plan in 2014, though it was never enacted.