State AG files brief backing Obama immigration appeal

OLYMPIA — The state Attorney’s General Office has authored a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting President Obama’s stalled immigration actions.

The brief comes after two lower courts this year upheld a legal challenge by Texas and other states questioning whether the president can make changes to the immigration system by executive authority.

Obama’s actions would protect from deportation an estimated 5 million people living in the United States illegally. If implemented, about 105,000 people in Washington could transition into the legal workforce, according to the brief.

“Each day that these reforms are delayed harms people who want nothing more than to come out of the shadows and live and work legally to support their families,” state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “This affects our friends, families, neighbors, and our state as a whole.”

Joining Washington on the brief were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report. Joseph O'Sullivan: 360-236-8268 or josullivan@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @OlympiaJoe