WASHINGTON, Dec. 4  – Sen. Bernie Sanders, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and 215 members of Congress last night filed an amicus brief in support of the Department of Justice’s petition for Supreme Court review of the president’s immigration executive actions.

“President Obama did exactly the right thing when he took action to protect DREAMers and the parents of children who are citizens or legal permanent residents. I am confident that the Supreme Court will support the president’s authority to defend aspiring Americans,” Sanders said. “We must work to unite families, not tear them apart.”

The members argue in the brief that Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are consistent with congressional intent and the Executive’s longstanding legal authority to establish national immigration enforcement priorities and exercise discretion in the enforcement of our immigration laws.  As stated in the brief: Congress has “granted the Secretary [of Homeland Security] broad discretion in determining how to carry out the immigration laws, and has explicitly directed the Secretary to establish policies and priorities for enforcement of those laws.”

The 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling would effectively strip the Executive of broad authority to make discretionary judgments on how best to enforce the nation’s immigration laws where Congress has not prescribed a specific action, and would devastate millions of individuals, families, and communities across the nation.

Full text of the amicus brief can be found here.