After court ruling, Obama running out of immigration options

With another devastating ruling by a federal appeals court, President Obama may be running out of options in his quest to remake the nation’s immigration system before he leaves office.

As congressional leaders made clear they were not interested in passing a sweeping immigration rewrite, the president vowed to use his executive authority to protect undocumented immigrants and modernize the legal immigration system. That strategy was dealt a major blow Monday when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down his program to protect up to 4.3 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it would appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, immigration advocates say a few opportunities remain for Obama.

David Leopold, an immigration attorney in Cleveland, said the president can ensure that his immigration enforcement agencies are focusing their deportation efforts on the most dangerous undocumented immigrants in the country.

The Obama administration has deported about 400,000 undocumented immigrants a year but has tried to increase the percentage of those who fall under categories that include people with extensive criminal records, gang ties or who pose threats to national security.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said the president could also work to end the practice of using detention centers to hold mothers and children who are fleeing gang violence in Central America.

Obama could also work unilaterally to make changes to the legal immigration system to allow more foreign workers to enter the country and stay here longer.

For example, the administration is considering a plan to allow foreign students who graduate from American universities with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to stay in the country for a longer period of time after they graduate.