By David Cruz
Correspondent
In November, President Obama said he’d take executive action on immigration since the legislative branch of the federal government failed to act on the issue, but this week, the judicial branch was heard from. A federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of a motion by 26 states that effectively puts the brakes on the president’s order.
“There’s 50 states in the union,” noted Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. “I’m standing with the majority.”
Baraka just happened to be hosting a roundtable on immigration this morning along with the New Jersey Urban Mayor’s Association. The plan was to talk about how cities in Jersey are preparing to implement aspects of the president’s executive order. Instead, the focus became reaction to the court ruling.
“I don’t think locally [the ruling] is going to slow us down any bit,” Baraka said. “We’re still going to go forward with our municipal ID program. We’re organizing around that. I think it’s something that we can do and partner with our sister city in New York to make sure we have it in New Jersey and get as many of the mayors in New Jersey to do the same thing.”
Baraka’s plan is modeled after a New York City program. It’s designed to provide undocumented Newarkers with a municipal ID card that would give them access to city services and the chance to open a bank account — just one of many barriers to their economic stability.
“We’re hopeful that justice will prevail and that once and for all we will have an opportunity to help the immigrant families that are here,” Perth Amboy Mayor and Urban Mayor’s Association President, Wilda Diaz.
The judge in Texas agreed with the states who argued that the president was overreaching and is imposing new rules by fiat and busting their budgets as a result.
“I am very disappointed in the ruling of the U.S. District Judge which somewhat postponed the effective dates of these policies that the president put in place,” added Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, “and so I’m hopeful that this action, by this judge, is appealed that the president will prevail.”
The president’s executive order would have allowed children of the undocumented to start applying for protection under DACA — or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — starting this week. The ruling affects almost 300,000 people. The White House says it’ll appeal but it’s unclear right now whether anyone will be able to start applying for protections this week.