LePage Denies Suing Obama Over Immigration

In a handwritten letter, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) had a response to progressives asking him to drop his lawsuit challenging President Obama’s immigration executive actions: I’m not suing Obama, I’m suing “illegal immigrants,” LePage suggested.

According to the group CREDO, LePage sent a handwritten note to Murshed Zaheed, the group’s deputy political director, in response to a petition members filed last month urging LePage to drop the legal challenge. LePage acknowledged he had received the letter but the governor denied that he was suing the President.

“I believe you mistake me for someone else! I do not have a lawsuit against President Obama. I did file a lawsuit against illegal immigrants taking state money against state and federal laws. The United States was founded by the rule of law,” the letter said.

LePage’s office confirmed the letter was authentic to Maine Public Broadcasting, but did not comment further.

Maine is one of 26 states involved in a lawsuit led by Texas challenging Obama’s executive action order, which protects certain undocumented immigrants from deportation. Only four governors, including LePage, are listed by name as challengers.

As the Bangor Daily News points out, the lawsuit does not Obama by name, but references many of his actions and includes members of his administration as defendants.

Nevertheless, CREDO took advantage of the confusion to encourage LePage to withdraw Maine from the Texas suit:

“I am including a copy of the suit for your reference. If your name (one of only four governors) was erroneously included on this filing I recommend contacting Texas Attorney General and current Governor Greg Abbott who organized this filing,” a response from Zaheed to LePage’s letter said. Zaheed also pointed out that “illegal immigrants” are not listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

Read LePage’s letter below: