Major Supreme Court rulings

0623 Supreme CourtWashington, D.C. (NYC Media) – Thursday’s decision on immigration is a big blow to the Obama Administration’s executive actions.

In 2014, Obama announced that more than 4 million undocumented immigrants could now apply for temporary work permits — that would prevent them from being deported.

The status of those 4 million people is now up in air. That’s because the Supreme Court announced it deadlocked on this case — four to four.

President Obama said, “The fact that the Supreme Court wasn’t able to come to a decision today doesn’t just set the system back even further, it takes us further back from the country we aspire to be.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan had a very different take, saying, “This is a win for the Constitution, it’s a win for Congress, and it’s a win in our fight to restore the separation of powers. The President doesn’t write laws. Congress writes laws.”

The case now goes back to the lower court ruling, which blocked the program last year.

The other big Supreme Court decision made Thursday is a major victory for supporters of affirmative action. The case was originally brought by a woman, who claimed she had been denied admission to the University of Texas because she was white.

The Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions program at the university — saying it “is” constitutional to take race into account as a factor in deciding who to admit to the University.

A major decision was expected on abortion and whether a Texas law that created higher standards for abortion clinics is constitutional. That ruling is expected on Monday.

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