In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News today, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ), the woman who signed into law SB 1070, the controversial bill dealing with illegal immigration upheld in part by the Supreme Court today, called the ruling a “victory” but added that the federal government was continuing to place Arizona “under assault.”
“I believe that this Supreme Court unanimously upheld the section that it is the heart of the bill,” she said. “It’s a victory for the rule of law and the 10th amendment.”
By the same token, Brewer recognized the threat implicit in the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to suspend cooperation with Arizona state authorities via 287(g) task force agreements. “This continued assault on the state of Arizona in regards to illegal immigration has been totally unfortunate,” Brewer said.
“The bottom line is that the feds need to step up and do their job and secure our border so we can work on other issues that are a result of the borders not being secured.”
Brewer was deeply upset at the new round of federal pressure on Arizona. “At every turn,” she said, “we see the federal government putting their finger down on other places … They rescinded the 287(g) for all law enforcement in the state of Arizona immediately after this ruling came out. They’re taking away the ability for us to work hand in hand with ICE. So now instead of being able to access the [citizenship] database we’re going to have to call in and go through ICE to verify if somebody’s illegally in the state or not. That’s an assault on Arizona. And it was only rescinded in the State of Arizona.”
Brewer, whose super PAC JAN PAC is devoted to “securing the border and restoring integrity to our immigration system,” acknowledged that the state of Arizona would have to continue to battle in court with Eric Holder and the Department of Justice. “This is not the end of our journey,” Brewer stated. “We know that lawsuits have been in the making and that they will be filed regarding civil rights and based on supposed discrimination and racial profiling. I feel confident in the fact that we have done everything to make sure that that will not happen. We will accept zero intolerance.”
Brewer did knock the Obama administration for its initial reaction to the law; President Obama had implied that the law enabled official racism. “That was an example of exciting the people of America by not reading the law and moving forward with statements that were totally unfactual,” said Brewer.
But she said that Arizona officers were ready, willing, and able to perform under the law. “They’ve had training. This is the controversial part of SB 1070 that everybody was concerned about and it was unanimously upheld. There will be no sanctuary cities. And law enforcement will work in conjunction to see that it’s enforced.
“We’re getting more information, more legal advice, but today was a victory for the 75 percent of the American people that support SB 1070.”
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @benshapiro.
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