June 17, 2010
PHOENIX – 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.
Jan Brewer, Governor
