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Abdication Through Enforcement, Shalini Ray

Indiana Law Journal

Presidential abdication in immigration law has long been synonymous with the perceived nonenforcement of certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. President Obama’s never-implemented policy of deferred action, known as DAPA, serves as the prime example in the literature. But can the President abdicate the duty of faithful execution in immigration law by enforcing the law, i.e., by deporting deportable noncitizens? This Article argues “yes.” Every leading theory of the presidency recognizes the President’s role as supervisor of the bureaucracy, an idea crystallized by several scholars. When the President fails to establish meaningful enforcement priorities, essentially making every deportable …

An Appellate Solution To Nationwide Injunctions, Sam Heavenrich

Indiana Law Journal

District courts have issued an unprecedented number of nationwide injunctions during the Obama and Trump administrations, provoking criticism from the Supreme Court. This Article proposes a change to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that addresses the Justices’ concerns without taking the drastic step of eliminating nationwide injunctions entirely. Specifically, this Article recommends amending Rule 65 to allow only the appellate courts to issue injunctive relief that extends beyond the plaintiffs in cases challenging a federal law or policy. In addition to the proposed Rule change, this Article offers a categorization framework for existing proposals addressing nationwide injunctions, classifying them …

Evading Constitutional Challenge: Dapa's Implications For Future Exercises Of Executive Enforcement Discretion, Lucy Chauvin

Indiana Law Journal

I. UNITED STATES V. TEXAS: DEFINING THE BOUNDARIES OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

A. DAPA AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

B. SCHOLARLY DEBATE: APPLICATION OF YOUNGSTOWN FRAMEWORK TO DAPA

II. TAKE CARE: CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS OF THE DUTY TO FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE LAW

III. ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION: INTERACTION BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE EXECUTIVE

A. HECKLER V. CHANEY: EARLY RECOGNITION OF EXECUTIVE ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

B. ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION’S SPECIFIC APPLICATION TO IMMIGRATION LAW

C. THE MEANING OF “DEFERRED ACTION”

IV. THE HISTORICALLY LIMITED ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY

A. PRESUMPTIVE UNREVIEWABILITY

B. ADDITIONAL PROCEDURAL HURDLES

V. MOVING FORWARD: LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

A. FRAMING …