Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer angrily denounced the Obama administration’s decision Monday to strip the state’s police agencies of special immigration arrest powers, saying it was like telling the state to “drop dead” in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision upholding a key provision of Arizona’s immigration law.
“I was shocked. I was outraged. I thought, you know, this is politics at its best,” Brewer told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren in an interview Monday night.
“It’s just unconscionable. What they said to Arizona is: ‘Drop dead, Arizona, drop dead, and go away. We’re going to ignore you,’” the Republican added, suggesting the action by the Department of Homeland Security was prompted by the court’s ruling that upheld the state’s right to stop and question a person’s immigration status.
Brewer said the decision by Homeland to rescind the joint arrest agreement, known as 287g — which essentially deputizes state and local police to detain illegal immigrants — would also affect the state’s ability to use federal data bases to help “verify” illegal immigrants.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised . . . From the beginning, they have downplayed the border situation that Arizona faces on a daily basis in regards to security,” Brewer said. “They have certainly ignored our pleas for them to do the job.”
“It just is incomprehensible to think that this has all taken place today,” the governor continued. “And it ticks me off. I think that it should tick the people of America off.”
Asked whether the Homeland decision on 287g could be appealed, Brewer sounded doubtful.
“It is their program. And it’s almost become apparent that they can do whatever they darn well want,” she said. “They don’t want to enforce their laws. They won’t let us help them enforce their laws.”
“The bottom line is, is what we need is a new administration, somebody that will take the responsibility, uphold the rule of law and secure our borders so we can deal with all the issues pertaining to illegal immigration,” Brewer added. “And we have that opportunity in November.”
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