California Gov. Jerry Brown Friday blasted a lawsuit by Republican governors to stop President Obama’s deportation amnesty, calling the litigation “un-Christian.”
The lawsuit is “troglodyte at best and, at worst, un-Christian,” Mr. Brown told reporters after emerging from a meeting at the White House.
The lawsuit by Texas and 25 other states has resulted in a federal judge blocking Mr. Obama’s deportation amnesty. But the administration’s lawyers asked a federal appeals court Thursday to allow the policy to go forward.
The administration said illegal immigrants will suffer until the policy takes effect.
Mr. Brown said Mr. Obama is acting “wisely” with his executive action to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. He told reporters that Mr. Obama has acted “legally” on an issue that could affect up to 1 million illegal immigrants in California if the policy is allowed to take effect.
The president is “well within his authority” on immigration, including the issuance of work permits for people who qualify for amnesty, said Mr. Brown, who added that he stands with the president on the issue. Mr. Obama was actually in Phoenix while the governor was talking; the president was on his way back to Washington from an overnight trip to California.
As governor, Mr. Brown has allowed driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants in California and has extended taxpayer-funded tuition aid to college students who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
He also has called for federal legislation to create a pathway to citizenship.
The governor also said he doesn’t see any reason why another Democrat should challenge Hillary Rodham Clinton in a presidential primary next year.
“I can’t think of anything I’d rather have less if I were running for president than to have a competitor in the primary,” Mr. Brown said. “The primaries get into all the little nuances and small differences of candidates of the same party. What Hillary needs is a good debate drawing the distinctions between where she stands and where all these Republicans, these wannabes running around.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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