WASHINGTON — After President Barack Obama announced wide-reaching executive actions on immigration last November, officials from 26 states joined a lawsuit to block them. Another 12, plus the District of Columbia, signed on to a brief in support of the president.
Another dozen haven’t gotten involved at all, and some observers are asking why. Those 12 states are Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Wyoming.
HuffPost reached out to the offices of those states’ governors and attorneys general to see where they stand on Obama’s immigration actions and the lawsuit aimed at stopping them.
Many didn’t seem to want to talk about their decision to remain on the sidelines — or at least did not respond to multiple calls and emails from HuffPost. A few said they were supportive of Obama’s actions, but said they didn’t join the amicus brief because of timing or a practice not to weigh in on lawsuits at an early stage. One, Wyoming, did not join the suit even though the governor believes Obama overstepped his authority. The other states that responded did not give a firm answer either way.
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Representatives for the Rhode Island and Virginia attorneys general Peter Kilmartin and Mark Herring, both Democrats, said that their offices generally don’t sign on to cases until they have advanced further along in the judicial process.
Amy Kempe, Kilmartin’s spokeswoman, said via email that he “generally supported the arguments in the amicus in favor of the executive order, and will continue to monitor the case in the event that there is another issue for which amicus support is solicited.” Michael Kelly, speaking for Herring, also said their office was keeping an eye on the situation.
States may still have opportunities down the line to join in support of the president. Ferguson, the Washington state attorney general, said his office will likely file additional briefs as the case advances.
“We’re in for the long haul on this,” he said.
