A state lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive order shielding as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation could come from Texas in the next two weeks, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said during a Monday press conference.
“Most everyone agrees that the immigration system in America is broken,” Abbott said. “Similarly, most agree that executive fiat is not the right way to fix it.”
Added Abbott: “The president must follow the law just like everyone else.”
[…]
Abbott said he plans to reach out to other state governors and attorneys general over the next two weeks to come up with a plan to counter Obama’s Thursday executive action. Whether or not they sign on will not affect Abbott’s decision. Asked if he will file suit against the federal government, something he has done 33 times before as attorney general, Abbott said the “odds are in favor.” Thirty of those lawsuits have been filed against the Obama administration.
Abbott said Obama “crossed a line” with last week’s announcement; the president’s action has been heavily criticized by Republicans who say he overstepped his constitutional authority. Obama said Congress left him no choice when its members refused to come up with a way to reform immigration and pass a bill.
See here and here for the background. This is about politics first and foremost, and one can hardly blame Greg Abbott for going to back to this particular well; it’s been pretty good to him so far. One might ask him how Obama’s actions compared to those of other Presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, if only for the entertainment value. Be that as it may, if we’re going to talk politics, it’s hard to see this as anything but a win for the President if his goal was to remind Latino voters who is on whose side. Go ahead and feel free to keep reminding them, Greg.
What’s that definition of insanity again? Oh yeah, doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results.
I’m so old I remember when Republicans were against frivolous lawsuits.