Gov. Brewer: White House Wants Ariz. to "Drop Dead"
The Ariz. governor initially hailed the SCOTUS decision as a victory—but that was before Obama had played all of his cards.
| Posted Tuesday, June 26, 2012, at 10:20 AM
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.
In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's Supreme Court split decision on Arizona's strict illegal immigration law, Gov. Jan Brewer hailed the ruling as a "legal victory" for her state.
But by the end of the day, after the rest of the administrative dominoes had fallen, she was accusing the Obama Administration of telling her state to "drop dead."
The action that prompted Brewer's change in tune was the Department of Homeland Security's post-ruling decision to revoke an agreement that gave local officers the ability to enforce immigration law, a move the Arizona Daily Star reports, will mean that officers will no longer enforce immigration law at the scene of a traffic stop in the state unless the person in question is a priority for federal department.
Or, as Brewer put it during a Fox News appearance: "What they said to Arizona is, 'Drop dead, Arizona. Drop dead and go away. We’re going to ignore you.'" (via Poliitco)
Fox News Latino explains that the Department of Homeland Security is essentially re-asserting their own immigration policy priorities over those of the state. Immigration officers will still verify immigration status via phone. The Department of Homeland security also revoked an agreement that allows local police to make immigration arrests.
The Supreme Court struck down key parts of the state law on Monday, but upheld the so-called "show me your papers" requirement—a provision that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are here unlawfully.
Meanwhile, outspoken anti-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio told Fox News on Monday that he's "not stopping anything" based on the Supreme Court's decision or the Department of Homeland Security's announcement.
