Two months ago, Kansas Secretary of State and SB 1070 architect Kris Kobach, who also serves as Mitt Romney’s immigration advisor, joined forces with Roy Beck of NumbersUSA and Chris Crane of the ICE Union to file a lawsuit against DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton. Their intent: to block the implementation of Obama’s deferred action for DREAMers program, which protects aspiring citizens who are American in all but paperwork from deportation.
Now it seems that the state of Mississippi has joined their lawsuit. From the Clarion Ledger today:
Gov. Phil Bryant has joined a federal lawsuit challenging Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s directive ordering federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers not to enforce federal immigration laws or initiate removal proceedings against a broad class of approximately 1.7 million illegal immigrants…
“States must protect their borders while the federal government continues to ignore this growing problem,” Bryant said. “I believe this action by the Obama administration is unconstitutional and circumvents Congress’s authority. The fact remains that illegal immigration is a real issue with real consequences, and ignoring the rule of law is irresponsible. As governor, I cannot turn a blind eye to the problem of illegal immigration and its costs to Mississippi.”
Bryant said he is joining the lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi based on the significant fiscal costs that illegal immigration imposes on the state.
Bryant said Mississippi is being represented in the case, at no cost to taxpayers, by immigration law expert Kris Kobach and Texas attorney Michael Jung.
Two things: Does Mitt Romney, who let Kobach write the anti-immigrant provisions of the GOP platform, support this lawsuit, considering that 64% of Americans support deferred action for DREAMers? Romney has already said that he would end the deferred action program upon taking office—does he also want to prohibit President Obama from continuing to enact it?
Furthermore: when neighboring Alabama decided to pass HB 56, the harshest anti-immigrant law in the nation, Mississippi wisely held back, realizing that the persecution of immigrants would only bring lawsuits, trouble, and bad publicity. Why the embrace of extremism now?