Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s Statement on Obama’s Decision to Challenge Arizona’s Immigration Law

Here is the text of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s June 18, 2010, press release on President Obama’s challenge to Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard acknowledgment that he will not represent Arizona in defending the law.

“Because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Ecuadorean television on June 8th that the Obama Administration had decided to sue Arizona over its recently passed anti-illegal immigration law, SB1070, it will come as no surprise if recent media reports are accurate and if the president’s policies now, in fact, include filing a lawsuit against the State of Arizona.

“Though not surprising, that decision is, nevertheless, outrageous.

“Our federal government should be using its legal resources to fight illegal immigration, not the law-abiding citizens of Arizona. Despite the law’s rigorous safeguards against racial profiling and carefully crafted language to avoid usurping federal authority, several lawsuits have already been filed.

“Because the Arizona Legislature had no confidence that the Attorney General would vigorously defend this legislation, subsequently giving me the authority to hire outside counsel – and because the Attorney General has now withdrawn as counsel for the State — I will ensure the immigration laws we passed are vigorously defended all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary, where this reasonable law will ultimately be found constitutional.”