If immigration wasn't already the most important wedge issue in the 2016 election, the Supreme Court's 4-4 ruling on President Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) executive order just solidified immigration's status as the nation's most divisive issue. The one-sentence "decision" will turn this election into a fierce war of identity politics with Hillary Clinton's Latino base pitched against Donald Trump's white male supporters. Even though Clinton's policies will lead to more open immigration policies, which is a good thing, her modus operandi of rallying an ethnic constituency will be damaging for the country.
President Obama claimed that the ruling—which said only that the justices had failed to reach a decision and therefore the lower court's ruling blocking his action was "affirmed"—was not a "value judgment." That may be true. Nevertheless, it was still a body blow to DAPA, a core element of his legacy. As the name suggests, the order would have deferred deportations—not offered permanent legal status, mind you—to some four million primarily Latino undocumented foreigners who have American children and families but no criminal record. They would have also obtained work permits that would have allowed them to come out of the shadows and work without fear of deportation.
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