Dean Johnson Interviewed on Supreme Court and Obama Immigration Policy

Dean Kevin R. Johnson was interviewed by media including Southern California Public Radio station KPCC and eFM, Korea's top-rated English-language station, regarding President Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) immigration program and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that left in place an injunction preventing its implementation.

In an interview with eFM, Dean Johnson explained the background of the DAPA program and talked about the differences in immigration policy that would occur as a result of the election as president of either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump.  He also talked about how President Obama may have missed the opportunity to achieve more comprehensive immigration reform. 

"President Obama in the beginning of his administration probably had a lot more leeway to push for immigration reform," Dean Johnson said.  "He decided in his first term he was going to focus on healthcare and other issues, so he didn't really get around to immigration until the second term.  After his reelection in 2008 he became somewhat less popular among many segments of the America society, and by the time he came to the immigration table he wasn't able to lead in a way that he might have been early on in his administration."

Speaking with KPCC, Dean Johnson talked about how the failure to implement DAPA will affect undocumented immigrants differently depending upon a variety of factors.  "There's a clear division among immigrants between the haves and have-nots -- not everyone has the same opportunities," he said.  "There are generational divides, there are class divides, there are all these divides that are separate and apart from immigration status."

Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.