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| New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with Mitt Romney during 2012 presidential campaign stop. Romney at the time took the position that the United States should make life so hard on immigrants that they would deport themselves. |
Christie Hypocrisy on Display
New Jersey Joins Lawsuit to Block
Obama’s Executive Order on Immigration
For Immediate
Release: March 26, 2015
Contacts:
Frank Argote-Freyre, President – 908-670-0552
Christian Estevez, Executive Vice President – 973-418-7012
Rudy Rodas, Co-Chair, Immigration Committee – 201-381-1819
Statement of the Latino Action Network Steering Committee
Governor Christie yesterday, in
a cynical political ploy, entered New Jersey into a federal lawsuit aimed at
blocking an executive order by President Obama allowing some undocumented
immigrants to remain in the country without fear of deportation. The move
underlies the hypocrisy Governor Christie has always displayed towards the
Latino community. To national audiences he has proclaimed himself a candidate
with appeal in the Latino community while guarding any details about his
national policies on immigration. New Jersey’s entry into the lawsuit, although
nearly 20 percent of the state’s population are Latinos, should serve as a wake-up
call to anyone in the community that considers him a friend.
Christie’s efforts
to secure the Republican presidential nomination have led him to undermine one
of the most significant bills he signed into law during his tenure as the
State’s Chief Executive. When Christie signed the In-State Tuition Equality
bill in 2013 at Union City High School, he essentially articulated the need for
immigration reform as the basis of his support of undocumented students. The
Governor said at the time: “Even if
you're cold-hearted about this, you can agree with the common sense of the
economics.” “[O]ur job, I believe, as a government, is to give every one of
these children, who we have already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars
in, an opportunity to maximize that investment.”
By fighting
against the expansion of executive programs that would give undocumented
students permission to work legally in the United States, Christie is hindering
these students’ ability to pay for their college education.
President Obama
announced the executive order last year after Congress failed again to enact
comprehensive immigration reform.
