Marin County supervisors agreed unanimously on Tuesday to sign onto an amicus brief supporting President Obama’s two executive orders on immigration reform, which would allow millions of immigrant students and their families to retain legal status in the United States. Already signed by cities, counties and states across the country, the brief was brought before the board by Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who labeled the executive orders as moral and pragmatic imperatives.

“By the year 2050, over half of our workforce will be immigrants,” Supervisor Kinsey said. “And ultimately, we have all come from families of immigrants. That was the foundation of our nation.”

The executive orders—known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans initiatives—protect from deportation children who arrived before their 16th birthdays and parents of legal children who have lived in the country since 2010. These individuals would qualify for a status known as deferred action, which prevents the director of the Department of Homeland Security from carrying through with deportation proceedings.

But those orders were challenged in court when a Texas district judge ruled against them in 2015 and a New Orleans appeals court upheld that decision by a 2-1 vote. Along with Texas, 25 other states have argued that the president does not have the legal authority to impose such orders.

In November, the federal government appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which agreed to review the case in January and is expected to begin hearings before the court’s current session ends in June or July. Following the recent death of Judge Antonin Scalia, the case could face a 4-4 split vote, which would leave the Texas court’s ruling in place.

At Tuesday’s meeting, other county supervisors echoed Supervisor Kinsey’s opinion, with Supervisor Damon Connelly emphasizing the effect the orders have on keeping immigrant families together. “It’s noteworthy to me that the executive orders at issue really are focused on family reunification as well as young people fleeing persecution from their home countries, and how we welcome them,” he said.

Tom Wilson, the executive director of the San Rafael-based Canal Alliance, told the board that thousands of families in the county would be affected by the orders. “In fact, we’ve had to do some serious planning to meet the needs of our community” in anticipation of the orders receiving the Supreme Court’s approval, he said.

Many Latinos in West Marin—where the largest school district, Shoreline Unified, boasts a majority Latino student population—would benefit from the president’s executive orders. And some already have. 

Former Point Reyes Station resident and Shoreline alumna Ariana Aparicio said her life took a 180-degree spin when she gained deferred action status in 2012.

With her newfound status, Ms. Aparicio, now 26, went on to graduate from Sonoma State with a degree in sociology before taking a three-year college advisor post for the nonprofit 10,000 Degrees program at Tomales High. She now works as an academic advisor at Sonoma State University.

“It’s because of [the executive orders] that I was able to work legally for a nonprofit and for Sonoma State,” said Ms. Aparicio, who left Mexico for West Marin when she was 4 years old. “They wouldn’t have hired me otherwise. So now I’m able to give back to my community.”

A favorable Supreme Court ruling would empower many others in West Marin like herself, Ms. Aparicio said, to free themselves from lives bounded by fear and confined to “back-breaking” jobs. 

“If I feel so happy, I know other people would too, and they wouldn’t feel so scared. And they would speak up at school board meetings and other gatherings if they didn’t feel so scared.”

Aside from the confidence gained from legal status, Ms. Aparicio said the executive orders helped the cohesiveness of her family, which is spread out over two countries. Because of deferred action, she was allowed to travel to and from Mexico last August, visiting her extended family for the first time in 16 years.

“It was a shock for everyone that I was able to go,” she said. “My grandmother said she had already made up her mind that she would never be able to see me again.”