Jan Brewer: Arizona law’s ‘heart’ upheld, Brewer’s remarks came hours after the Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold one of the key provisions of the state’s immigration law, allowing police officers to check the immigration status of any individual who has been stopped for questioning if there is reason to believe that the person is in the country illegally. Three other provisions of the law were struck down.
In her remarks, Brewer hit Obama and his administration for failing to design a comprehensive immigration policy that tackles illegal immigration head-on.
“We cannot forget that we are here today because the federal government has failed the American people regarding immigration policy, has failed to protect its citizens, has failed to preserve the rule of law and has failed to secure our borders,” she said. “The failure to secure the border has created issues we now face regarding illegal immigration, and Arizona without question bears the brunt of that failure.”
The governor, who has come under intense fire since signing the controversial bill into law in 2010, added, “We also cannot forget that President Obama and his party had both houses in Congress for two years and could have secured our borders and fulfilled the promise to fix our broken immigration system. They failed.”
In an earlier statement reacting to the court’s ruling, Brewer had hailed the highly anticipated decision as a “victory for the rule of law” and a “legal victory” for her state.
During the press conference, Brewer repeated that she would not tolerate law enforcement officials who engaged in racial profiling — a concern of critics of the “show me your papers” provision.
Jan Brewer: Arizona law’s ‘heart’ upheld
