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Gov. Rick Perry says Texas might sue over executive action on immigration
Perry says he thinks his state has the legal grounds to move forward with a lawsuit
This is not the first time Perry has backed a lawsuit against the administration
President Barack Obama may have a phone and pen, but outgoing Gov. Rick Perry of Texas says he has the grounds for a lawsuit if he uses either.
Speaking at the Republican Governors Association annual meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, on Wednesday, Perry said “there’s probably a very real possibility” that Texas could sue the White House if the administration takes executive action on immigration.
“I’ll speak from our perspective in the state of Texas,” Perry said. “The cost to the people of the state of Texas is an extraordinary amount of money that this President is exacerbating with his announcement that he’s going to allow for this executive order.”
The President is expected to announce his executive action plan Thursday in a prime time address. Sources familiar with the plan tell CNN that the plan includes deferring deportation for the parents of U.S. citizens, a move that would affect up to 3.5 million people.
Perry will serve as until January, after which Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, also a Republican, will assume the governorship. Perry says that lawsuit would be in good hands with Abbott.
“When he (Abbott) was asked, what do you do (as attorney general for the past six years)? He said, ‘I go to the office. I sue Obama, and I go home.’ “
Asked whether he believed Texas will have the standing to challenge the implementation of the executive order, Perry answered, “I do.”
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, another potential 2016 contender, also said that he would also consider legal action against the administration.
“I wouldn’t push a shutdown,” Walker said, sitting next to Perry on stage. “I would go to the courts because I think there’s a pretty compelling argument.”
“I think you would be hard-pressed to find anybody – other than a partisan Democrat – who wouldn’t say this is illegal.”
This is not the first time the former White House contender has backed a lawsuit against the administration. In 2012, Perry publicly supported a suit against the White House over the issue of contraception.