MALDEF’s Thomas Saenz says he’s optimistic about Supreme Court immigration case

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Ten minutes can be eaither a blink or an eternity, and if that’s all the time you’ve got to make your case in the highest court in the land those ten minutes had better be near perfect.

That was all the time Tom Saenz had this morning to defend the interests of three women who have benefited from Preisent Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The long awaited oral arguments in the Texas v United States case lasted only 90 minutes, thirty more than is customary for such things. The court decided to extend the presentations in order to give an extra 10 minutes to a lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives and 10 mintes to MALDEF.

In essence, according to Saenz, three things were considered by the Justices: Do the states have standing to sue? Are the president’s executive actions constitutional (executive overreach)? And, did the president follow the proper procedures under the “Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law that governs how agencies can establish regulations.”

Most of the time and attention was taken up by the standing issue – does Texas have a case to sue the federal government?

This morning, fresh from his arguments at the Court, Saenz answered question from reporters in a press call. You can listen to it below. It’s just short of 13 minutes.



[Photo courtesy of Matt Wade/Flickir]

Suggested reading

Arturo Rosales
Arturo Rosales
Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement is the most comprehensive account of the arduous struggle by Mexican Americans to secure and protect their civil rights. It is also a companion volume to the critically acclaimed, four-part documentary series of the same title. This volume is a testament to the Mexican American community’s hard-fought battle for social and legal equality as well as political and cultural identity.
Since the United States-Mexico War in 1846-1848, Mexican Americans have striven to achieve full rights as citizens. From peaceful resistance and violent demonstrations, when their rights were ignored or abused, to the establishment of support organizations to carry on the struggle and the formation of labor unions to provide a united voice, the movement grew in strength and numbers. However, it was during the 1960s and 1970s that the campaign exploded into a nationwide groundswell of Mexican Americans laying claim, once and for all, to their civil rights and asserting their cultural heritage. They took a name that had been used disparagingly against them for years—Chicano—and fashioned it into a battle cry, a term of pride, affirmation and struggle.
[cc_product sku=”978-1-55885-201-3″ display=”inline” quantity=”true” price=”true”]

Subscribe today!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Must Read