AUSTIN, TEXAS: Three more states have joined a Texas-led multistate coalition suing over the Obama administration’s recently announced executive actions on immigration.
The addition of Arizona, Florida and Ohio brings to 20 the number of states fighting the order in a federal district court in Brownsville.
Many top Republicans have denounced the president’s unilateral move designed to spare as many as 5 million people living illegally in the United States from deportation.
But Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott took it a step further with filing a lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of Texas.
Most of the 20 states participating in the lawsuit are in the South and Midwest, but Abbott argues that Texas could be uniquely hurt by the executive orders because of its large border.-AP
Cooper responds
RALEIGH, N.C.: With Gov. Pat McCrory joining a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, Attorney General Roy Cooper said that he would monitor the case to determine whether North Carolina should join it.
But the Democrat questioned entering a “partisan lawsuit” and worried it would cause further division on the immigration issue.
McCrory, a Republican, has joined the lawsuit spearheaded by the Texas attorney general as part of a 17-state coalition. McCrory is one of four governors who are plaintiffs.
Cooper, whose office represents the state in litigation, is not involved in the lawsuit. His office initially learned about it through a news media report, spokeswoman Noelle Talley said.
McCrory told reporters that he encouraged “support from our attorney general” in the case, and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest urged Cooper in a letter later to join the case.
Responding to Forest, Cooper said he was one of 35 attorneys general who urged Congress last year in a letter to approve comprehensive immigration reform, which has yet to occur.
Attorneys in Cooper’s office will work to determine the litigation’s effect on North Carolina “and whether there is benefit for our state to join,” Cooper wrote. “However, I am concerned that a partisan lawsuit adds to the divisiveness that has prevented meaningful immigration reform in the first place.”
McCrory’s office issued a statement night saying it was disappointed in Cooper’s response, describing it as “the latest example in a series of failures from the attorney general’s office to defend North Carolinians from the actions of the president and the laws of our great state.”
In his letter to Cooper, Forest said failure to join on behalf of the state would “acquiesce to a constitutional violation that has the potential to harm all North Carolinians.” In announcing his involvement, McCrory said Obama’s action would likely put more financial strains on state government services.
The back-and-forth may have some bearing on future elections. Cooper is planning a run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2016. McCrory asked for donations to “start off the 2016 campaign season” and unveiled an upgraded campaign website. State GOP Chairman Claude Pope also called for Cooper to join the lawsuit.
Florida joins
TALLAHASSEE, FLA.: Florida is joining a multistate coalition led by Texas in suing over the Obama administration’s recently announced executive actions on immigration.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her intention to join the lawsuit.-AP
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