Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Why AG Laxalt’s immigration lawsuit has made political waves

Laxalt

AP Photo/Lance Iversen

Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, left, looks on as Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, back to camera hugs, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt after their swearing-in ceremony on the front steps of the Capitol in Carson City, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015.

Updated Friday, Jan. 30, 2015 | 10:53 a.m.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt made political waves this week when he brought Nevada into a multistate lawsuit challenging an order sparing millions from deportation.

The decision to join 25 other states suing President Barack Obama over his recently announced executive action was Laxalt’s first major publicized legal action, and one the new attorney general carried out without the backing of Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The suit has split Laxalt’s own Republican Party, drawn fierce criticism from the immigrant community, and raised questions about the relationship between Nevada’s head of state and its top legal adviser.

Here’s how that happened:

Despite opposing Obama's immigration plan, some Nevada Republicans have distanced themselves from the suit. Others are supporting it.​

Through a spokeswoman, Sandoval said he "continues to believe that the best course of action is a legislative solution rather than legal action.”

Republican congressional leaders like Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei have also expressed concern that politicians are wasting their time with lawsuits instead of focusing on legislation to address comprehensive immigration reform.

"We can sue all we want," Heller said, "But I think at the end of the day, like the governor said, we need a legislative answer to this."

Amodei, a Northern Nevada Republican, had stronger words.

"Congress needs to get off its ass and work on legislation," he said.

The response from Laxalt's own party has been so divisive that Washoe County's Republican Party felt compelled to release a statement Wednesday in defense of the lawsuit.

"Undermining the checks and balances provided in the U.S. Constitution sets a wrong precedence," said Washoe County GOP Chairman Sam Kumar.

Critics want Sandoval to reverse Laxalt’s plan, but it’s unlikely he can.

The governor told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he doesn't think he legally can override Laxalt’s decision, but he plans to talk with him about it this week.

“The attorney general has a separate standing and does not have to get approval from the governor to file a lawsuit,” said Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the UNR. “Politically, it’s uncomfortable in that you have two executive offices of the state disagreeing, but we’ve seen this before. It’s more so a political problem in that you have two Republicans disagreeing.”

Supporters of Obama’s executive action say Sandoval should use political pressure to rein the attorney general in.

“This guy is just making decisions independently,” said Justin Howard, who was among 25 protesters who gathered outside Laxalt’s office Wednesday to condemn the suit. “It just shows you how chaotic the party is.”

Laxalt has drawn the ire of the state's massive immigrant community. Nevada has the highest population share of undocumented immigrants in the country, according to the Pew Research Center.

Nevada Democrats and liberal activists have slammed Laxalt for going after Obama’s executive action, which would protect tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Nevada.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus has been the Democrats’ most outspoken critic, taking to the House floor to accuse Laxalt of “declaring war on immigrants.” She held a press conference in Las Vegas Thursday to share the stories of two women who will benefit from Obama’s plan.

“We’re not bad people,” Aida Lopez meekly told reporters in Spanish. “We beg (Republicans) who are parents to think about how hard it would be if they were separated from their children.”

Laxalt’s decision to join the suit has re-energized debates about the legality of Obama’s action.

In an opinion piece published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Laxalt said “a nation that allows a president to rewrite existing laws by simply making an order does not have limited government.”

But past Republican presidents made similar changes to immigration policy that has today’s Republican party so upset, said the Associated Press’ Andrew Taylor.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush extended amnesty to immigrants not covered by a 1986 immigration reform bill, and their own party barely made a peep.

But the difference with Obama’s actions today, opponents say, is that the majority of Congress approved Reagan and Bush’s presidential muscle. Obama made his announcement immediately after his party lost control of the U.S. Senate.

“I’m sure you could call any number of lawyers and get a different answer” about the merits of the lawsuit against Obama’s action, Herzik said. “It’s an interesting legal question.”

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