NEW YORK (Sputnik) — More than a hundred mayors from cities and counties across the United States filed an amicus brief urging the US Supreme Court to support President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, New York City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Nisha Agarwal said in a statement.
"Over 100 cities and counties stood together today to make it clear, millions of immigrant families in our cities and counties cannot wait a minute longer for relief," Agarwal stated on Tuesday.
An amicus curiae brief is an opinion by someone who is not a party to a case, but offers information that bears on the case in order to assist the court.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti led the effort on Tuesday and filed the amicus brief after gathering the signatures from their colleagues.
"I urge the Supreme Court to overturn this injustice to give millions of undocumented immigrants the relief they deserve, and out cities the strong foundation they need to thrive," de Blasio argued.
Obama’s executive order makes changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has allowed certain undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before their sixteenth birthday and before 2007 to receive a renewable two-year work permit and exemption from deportation.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, however, has recently vowed to initiate a vote on whether to also file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court against Obama’s executive immigration action.
