Thursday, March 26, 2015

Pallone to Christie: New Jersey Knows Immigration Reforms Can’t Wait



WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6) released the following statement today in response to Governor Chris Christie’s (R-NJ) decision to sign onto an amicus brief opposing President Obama's executive action on immigration. The brief, filed on Monday by the governors of New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana and South Dakota, urges an appeals court to uphold a preliminary injunction blocking the President’s plan to spare millions of undocumented immigrants from risk of immediate deportation.

According to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll, a majority of New Jersey residents support President Obama’s executive order to extend these protections to immigrant families:

“This is just another example of Governor Christie putting his own political agenda ahead of the interests of the New Jerseyans he claims to represent. A majority of New Jersey residents, 53 percent, in fact, support President Obama’s actions that will help to secure our border, hold bad actors accountable, and ensure that families are not being ripped apart. Yet, despite the public support in our state for these common sense reforms, Governor Christie has, instead, prioritized his political aspirations.

“Last November, President Obama took an important first step to help fix our country’s broken immigration system. President Obama acted decisively and within his legal authority to help keep families together and ensure that everyone living in this country is playing by the same rules. This includes hard-working New Jerseyans who would finally be able to come out of the shadows, submit to a background check, and start paying taxes, which is good for both public safety and our state’s economy. I urge Governor Christie to consider the opinions of New Jersey residents and stop obstructing these reforms that keep families together and begin dealing with our broken immigration system.”

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