Cities United For Immigration Action Redoubles Support For President’s Actions

NEW YORK -- The following statement can be attributed to 34 U.S. Mayors and members of Cities United for Immigration Action in response to a Texas federal judge's temporary order blocking President Obama's executive actions on immigration:

"Despite this temporary delay, we are confident the President's executive actions will be upheld and enforced as the law of the land, benefitting millions of families and spurring much needed economic growth nationwide. We are undeterred and will continue this campaign to fully integrate all our citizens, and keep our cities centers of vitality, creativity, and the engine of small business growth. These reforms will be implemented, and we look forward to ensuring all eligible persons will be brought out of the shadows and granted their full rights under the President's lawful executive actions."

In January, Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York City and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles announced that more than 30 mayors filed a friend-of-the-court brief in this case, Texas vs. United States, in support of President Obama’s recent executive action.

The mayors led the effort to organize more than 30 cities, the National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in filing a brief arguing that the public interest across the country is served clearly and overwhelmingly by implementing immigration reform by executive action. The brief also argues that blocking executive action with preliminary injunction will stall desperately needed changes to the federal government’s immigration policies. The cities represented by the amici mayors together account for approximately 28.2 million people, including 7.5 million immigrants.

The following Mayors and groups have signed on to today's statement (list in formation):

Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York, New York
Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles, California
Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta, Georgia
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore, Maryland
Mayor Muriel Bowser, District of Columbia
Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo, New York
Mayor James Diossa, Central Falls, Rhode Island
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago, Illinois
Mayor Nan Whaley, Dayton, Ohio
Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver, Colorado
Mayor Pedro Segarra, Hartford, Connecticut
Mayor Annise Parker, Houston, Texas
Mayor Steven Fulop, Jersey City, New Jersey
Mayor Virg Bernero, Lansing, Michigan
Mayor Paul Soglin, Madison, Wisconsin
Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mayor Betsy Hodges, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark, New Jersey
Mayor Noam Bramson, New Rochelle, New York
Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mayor Bill Peduto, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mayor Charlie Hales, Portland, Oregon
Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Providence, Rhode Island
Mayor Tom Butt, Richmond, California
Mayor Lovely Warren, Rochester, New York
Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis, Missouri
Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake City, Utah
Mayor Edwin Lee, San Francisco, California
Mayor Javier Gonzales, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mayor Edward Murray, Seattle, Washington
Mayor Stephanie Miner, Syracuse, New York
Mayor Mike Spano, Yonkers, New York
The National League of Cities
U.S. Conference of Mayors

This action has been taken as part of Cities United For Immigration Action - a coordinated effort among cities that have led the nation in the adoption of common sense policies to welcome and embrace new immigrants in support of the President's executive action on immigration.

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