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Nevada is 26th State Joining Lawsuit Against Executive Action, Leaving Gov. Sandoval in Tough Spot

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Nevada has become the 26th state to sign onto the states’ lawsuit against President Obama’s executive action, leaving Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-NV) in a bit of a tough spot.

Technically, it’s Nevada’s Attorney General Adam Laxalt who signed the state onto the lawsuit.  But Sandoval is a Latino governor leading a state with one of the largest Latino populations in the land.  For God’s sake, Astrid Silva of Nevada is the DREAMer that Obama singled out when he announced executive action in the first place.  By comparison, Susana Martinez’s New Mexico not only avoided signing onto the states’ lawsuit, it did the opposite, by joining a 12-state amicus curiae brief supporting executive action.

That’s probably why Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called Nevada’s move:

embarrassing…there is no question we need a permanent solution to fix our broken system. I wish Republicans would focus their efforts on passing comprehensive legislation rather than baseless lawsuits that hurt Nevada families.

Nevada Democratic Party Chairwoman Roberta Lange also slammed both Laxalt and Sandoval, saying:

[They] have just sent a clear message to Nevada immigrants that appealing to the anti-immigrant, tea party wing of the Republican Party is more important to them than keeping families together.

If Brian Sandoval and Adam Laxalt had their way, thousands of Nevadans could face deportation and countless families would be at risk of being torn apart.  I urge Gov. Sandoval to insist Attorney General Laxalt withdraw from this partisan, irresponsible, and mean-spirited lawsuit that is nothing more than a slap in the face to Nevada’s immigrant community.

As for Gov. Sandoval, he appears to be struggling to walk a fine line.  His party is clearly thirsting to overturn executive action, but a spokeswoman for him has already said that Sandoval believes “the best course of action is a legislative solution rather than legal action.”

Nevada is about 27% Latino and home to 145,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.  Some 53,000 of them will be eligible for executive action, which will increase the state’s tax revenue by $21 million over five years.