Eight States Rally To Arizona's Defense

From Politico and FAIR:


States rally to Arizona's defense

Tags:Arizona,Immigration,Jan Brewer,Department Of Justice ListenPrintCommentEmail Subscribe.By ANDY BARR
7/14/10 5:09 PM EDT Text Size-+reset.Digg/Buzz It UpDigg this Story!Buzz it up!Add to LinkedIn.POLITICO 44Eight states announced Wednesday that they are backing Arizona in the federal government’s lawsuit against the state attempting to block the implementation of its controversial immigration law.





Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia have all signed on to an amicus brief filed Wednesday afternoon.





The Northern Mariana Islands also signed on to the amicus brief.





Michigan GOP Attorney General Mike Cox took the lead in writing the brief, and said in a statement accompanying the brief that Arizona has the “authority” to enforce immigration law.





The Arizona law allows state police to ask those they suspect of being illegal immigrants to provide documentation proving citizenship. If the suspect is unable to provide documents proving citizenship, police are allowed to detain the person until their citizenship can be proved.





The Justice Department contends that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and is seeking an injunction preventing Arizona from implementing the law when it takes effect on July 29.





“Arizona, Michigan and every other state have the authority to enforce immigration laws, and it is appalling to see President Obama use taxpayer dollars to stop a state’s efforts to protect its own borders,” said Cox. “My mother was a legal immigrant who faithfully carried her green card with her for years before gaining citizenship—it certainly is not too much to ask legal immigrants to do the same today.”





Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer thanked Cox for stepping in to support her embattled state.





"The United States was founded as a nation of laws and not of men, and I am deeply grateful for the national outpouring of support for the rights of states and the rule of law," Brewer said in a statement







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