NEW YORK – The following statement can be attributed to Cities United for Immigration Action (CUIA) in response to the decision by the Department of Justice to seek an emergency court order to move forward with President Obama’s executive action on immigration.

“We applaud the Obama administration for taking this swift action. Our cities simply cannot continue to be the engines of growth they are without fully integrating all of our communities. We look forward to seeing the President's executive action implemented quickly."

CUIA is a coalition of city governments that stands in support of stronger cities through immigration action. Through CUIA, America’s mayors are shaping the national debate, working together to welcome and embrace new immigrants in support of the President’s executive action on immigration.

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.