Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is the only Orange County official who has joined 70 mayors and state representatives across the country in signing a statement released Monday calling for an end to the delay in implementation of President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration.
]
Immigrants Advised at Rally to Push Back Against Judge's Ruling to Halt Obama Orders
Santa Ana's veteran mayor joins backers of Cities United for Immigration Action who include New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Other California cities in support include Bell, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica and West Covina as well as Los Angeles County.
Supporters also come from numerous cities and counties in states that brought the lawsuit against the Obama administration or have otherwise indicated support for the litigation, including five cities and counties in Texas, six in New Jersey, two counties in Arizona and three municipalities in Wisconsin.
Naturally, this is already being spun into a 2016 presidential campaign issue.
In November, Obama bypassed Congress in signing the order to shield nearly 5 million immigrants from deportation and granting benefits to some parents of citizens and legal residents. That prompted 26 states to bring suit in Brownsville, Texas, federal Judge Andrew Hanen's courtroom, and he temporarily blocked Obama's executive order in February.
The ensuing delay in implementing Obama's measures in February and May has caused “significant harms” on local governments, the Cities United for Immigration Action maintain.
“Continuing to delay implementation of the President's executive action on immigration hurts our economy and puts families at risk,” de Blasio says in an emailed statement Monday. “Our cities are united, and we will fight for the immigration reform this nation needs and deserves–whether in the courtroom, in Congress, or in our communities. Make no mistake about it: our voices will be heard.”
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.