After being held up in the courts for more than a year, President Barack Obama’s signature immigration executive actions that proposed expanding his deferred action policies to allow individuals residing in the country illegally the opportunity to avoid deportation and obtain work permits and driver’s licenses were blocked from being implemented in a 4-4 ruling delivered by the United States Supreme Court on June 23, 2016.[1]

Without a ninth justice, due to the vacancy left on the court by former Justice Antonin Scalia's unexpected death, the Supreme Court was unable to rule on the case. The 4-4 split decision upheld the lower court's ruling, which blocked the new and expanded immigration policies from going into effect. President Obama blamed the court's inability to issue a ruling on Republican senators who have declined to hold a confirmation hearing on his Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland.[2]

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