arizona immigration law Archives - Page 3 of 6

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legislation, subsequently giving me the authority to hire outside counsel – and because the Attorney General has now withdrawn as counsel for the State — I will ensure the immigration laws we passed are vigorously defended all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary,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.”

Governor Brewer Rips President Obama for Lacking the Common Courtesy & Respect to Inform Her that His Administration will Sue to Overturn Arizona’s Immigration Law

To the astonishment and embarrassment of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an Ecuadoran TV audience today that the Obama administration will sue Arizona to overturn Arizona’s immigration law. Governor Brewer recently met with President Obama at the White House to discuss Arizona and immigration. Instead of President Obama calling Governor Brewer himself to tell her that his Justice Department would sue to overturn Arizona’s immigration law, he had his underling disclose his intentions to a TV audience in a FOREIGN COUNTRY.

Here is the text of Governor Brewer’s June 17, 2010, press release on this subject:

Governor Jan Brewer said she was stunned and angered to learn during an Ecuadorean television interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the Obama Administration had decided to sue Arizona over its recently passed anti-illegal immigration law, SB1070. Video of the interview can be seen at Governor Brewer’s Arizona Border Security Information website: www.azgovernor.gov/AZBorderSecurity.asp

Secretary Clinton announced during the interview on June 8th that President Obama has directed the U.S. Justice Department to “bring a lawsuit against the Arizona law.”

“This is no way to treat the people of Arizona,” said Governor Brewer. “To learn of this lawsuit through an Ecuadorean interview with the Secretary of State is just outrageous. If our own government intends to sue our state to prevent illegal immigration enforcement, the least it can do is inform us before it informs the citizens of another nation.”

Governor Brewer said, “I just visited with the President in the Oval Office about our differences over immigration policy, and the one firm understanding we had was that within two weeks he would provide details of his commitment to deploy National Guard troops to the border. While I am grateful that communications have taken place about a possible visit by Administration staff before the end of the month, there is not yet a confirmed date. More importantly, no information about additional troop and border security enhancements has been provided by the Obama Administration to the citizens of Arizona.”

Governor Brewer recently announced the creation of a legal defense fund for private contributions in defense of Arizona’s illegal immigration enforcement measures – www.keepazsafe.com. Over $22,000 in contributions have been made to the border legal defense fund since its announcement yesterday evening. Over $26,000 had previously been sent unsolicited to the Governor for legal defense of Arizona, for an approximate total of $48,000 in the fund.

Terry Goddard, Arizona’s Spineless Attorney General, Betrays His Base of Supporters

Phoenix New Times: “Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who recently slipped Sand Land’s Hispanic population an ice pick to the kidney by vowing to ‘vigorously defend’ the law if and when the feds file suit. See, Goddard, a Democrat, wants to be governor, just like his daddy was long ago. But since Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 on April 23, she’s shot past Goddard in the polls, as if someone spiked her prune juice with crystal meth.”

Arizona Senate Bill 1070: A Preliminary Report

Several Arizona law professors have written “Arizona Senate Bill 1070: A Preliminary Report.” The professors are Gabriel J. Chin,University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law; University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy; Carissa Byrne Hessick, Arizona State, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; Toni M. Massaro, University of Arizona College of Law; Marc L. Miller, University of Arizona – James E. Rogers College of Law. Here’s the abstract of the paper:

“This paper explores SB 1070, the 2010 Arizona law creating several new immigration-related crimes in the Arizona code and imposing a set of duties on Arizona law enforcement agencies and officers, some enforceable by private suit. We lay out the main features of the statute, show how they fit in to current Arizona and federal law, and are in many respects novel. We also explore some of the interpretive and constitutional issues presented by particular sections of the law.”

“We emphasize that our views are necessarily preliminary. To understand this bill requires the expertise of one half of a law school faculty, since issues arise about both structural and substantive constitutional law, immigration law, criminal law, criminal procedure, state and local government law, and other fields. Further, SB 1070 includes many provisions whose interpretation is open to a range of interpretations. Accordingly, we invite comments and rejoinders to this analysis.”

For comments on the article, see “Shedding Light on the AZ Immigration Law.”

Arizona Governor Brewer to Attorney General Terry Goddard: You’re Fired from Defending Immigration Law

Wow! Arizona Governor Jan Brewer took her gloves off on Friday when she fired Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard from defending Arizona’s new immigration law, SB 1070. You can’t blame her, however, after Godddard’s statements that he opposed SB 1070 and would not defend it. The last straw apparently was Goddard’s secret meeting with the U.S. Justice Department about the law followed by his press conference.

Here is the text of Governor Brewer’s May 28, 2010 press release:

“Today the legal team I have appointed to defend the State of Arizona in the legal challenges to Arizona’s new immigration laws met with senior officials from the United States Department of Justice. The meeting was held at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The Department attorneys were advised that I believe the federal government should use its legal resources to fight illegal immigration, not the State of Arizona. They were further advised that on behalf of the State of Arizona, I will ensure the immigration laws we passed are vigorously defended all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary.

“For some inexplicable reason, the Department of Justice officials met with the Arizona Attorney General hours before meeting with the State of Arizona’s legal team, and then allowed the Attorney General to hold a press conference to discuss the meeting. This level of coordination between the Attorney General and the Obama Administration is disturbingly similar to the coordination with Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords earlier this week on President Obama’s still unclear plan to deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the border.

“Due to the Attorney General’s opposition to Arizona’s immigration laws as set forth in S.B. 1070, the Legislature required Attorney General Goddard to act at the direction of the Governor in any challenge to S.B. 1070 as amended by H.B. 2162. The Legislature also gave the Governor authority to hire outside counsel if necessary to defend the law on behalf of the State instead of using the Attorney General.

“The Legislature gave me this authority because of its lack of confidence in the Attorney General’s willingness to vigorously defend this legislation that is so critical to protecting the safety and welfare of Arizona’s citizens. Last year, I instructed the Attorney General to change his position on behalf of the State of Arizona in the Horne v. Flores case involving a challenge to the Arizona’s English language learner laws. He refused and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rejected his position.

“Due to Attorney General Goddard’s curious coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice today and his consistent opposition to Arizona’s new immigration laws, I will direct my legal team to defend me and the State of Arizona rather than the Attorney General in the lawsuits challenging Arizona’s immigration laws.”

See “Arizona governor Brewer removes attorney general from defense of immigration law.”

Previous 234 Next