Mayor de Blasio on Friday joined nearly 30 big-city mayors from around the country to support President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform.
At the US Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, DC, the coalition announced a joint court filing to defend the executive action from a legal challenge brought in Texas.
“Delaying implementation of the president’s executive action will further hurt our families, negatively impact our economies, and create unnecessary insecurity in our communities,” said de Blasio.
“We intend to help organize together a series of actions around the country to support the president on this.”
In November, Obama took unilateral actions that would allow as many as 5 million people who came to the US illegally to remain.
The following month, a coalition of 17 Republican-led states challenged the moves as unconstitutional in a federal court filing.
A group of other states then filed an amicus brief siding with the president’s actions. The mayors said Friday they felt the need to weigh in on behalf of cities.