Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement strongly condemning today’s deadlock 4-4 tie in the U.S. Supreme Court case, United States v. Texas, leaving in place a 2015 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that halts the President’s plan to allow deportation relief and work permits for millions of immigrants:

“I am extremely disappointed and saddened by the Supreme Court’s ruling to block President Obama’s common-sense executive orders, which would have freed millions of people from the looming threat of deportation and allowed them to legally work in the United States. The court’s deadlock represents yet another example of inexcusable inability in Washington to address the nation’s broken immigration system. I will continue to support Federal comprehensive immigration reform so our immigrant families can succeed in our cities, without fear of deportation and remain on a path to citizenship. In the meantime, my administration will continue to implement efforts locally to support immigrant families and help undocumented immigrants safely come out of shadows and access City services.”

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced two new immigration programs to help many undocumented immigrants work legally and remain in the United States. One program expanded the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which since 2012 had allowed immigrants who had come to the United States as children to apply for temporary protection from deportation and work permits. The other – the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA – allowed undocumented parents of U.S. citizen and green card holding children to apply for a program that would spare them from deportation and provide them with work permits. In total, as many as 5 million people would have benefited from the President’s thoughtful actions.

San Francisco had joined with more than 100 cities nationwide in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the President’s program in United States v. Texas. Despite today’s deadlock, the case has not been finally resolved. Lower courts will now proceed on hearing the merits of the case, meaning that the case may again return to the Supreme Court. Mayor Lee will continue to advocate in support of the President’s executive orders as this process unfolds.