Jerry Brown: ‘California Stands Firmly with White House’ on Exec Amnesty

A day after a federal judge halted President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty, California Governor Jerry Brown declared “California stands firmly with the White House.”

“Further delay will not fix our broken immigration system,” Brown, who has declared that all illegal immigrants from Mexico are “welcome” in California, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama said he disagrees with the decision and the administration would appeal the ruling. Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced that the Obama administration will not be taking temporary amnesty applications until the case is resolved.

“The Department of Justice will appeal that temporary injunction; in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it,” Johnson said in a statement. “Accordingly, the Department of Homeland Security will not begin accepting requests for the expansion of DACA tomorrow, February 18, as originally planned. Until further notice, we will also suspend the plan to accept requests for DAPA.”

Nearly a million illegal immigrants in California may ultimately be eligible for executive amnesty. And last week, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, the non-partisan group that advises state lawmakers on fiscal and policy issues, released a detailed report warning California lawmakers that Obama’s executive amnesty, if implemented, would strain California’s budget since amnesty recipients would be eligible for Medi-Cal and cash assistance programs for legal immigrants.

“The benefits received by undocumented immigrants through these programs are almost entirely funded by the state and would therefore result in additional General Fund costs of an unknown amount,” the Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded. “The General Fund costs to provide state–funded benefits to this population are unknown at this time.”

Brown’s office noted that since taking office, Brown has ushered in the California DREAM Act, granted illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, and provided legal services to unaccompanied illegal immigrant juveniles arriving from Central America.