Posted Feb 10, 2011, 2:17 pm
The State of Arizona filed suit against the federal government Thursday, saying that authorities have failed to secure the border.
Gov. Jan Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne announced the suit, filed as a counterclaim against the federal government in the ongoing litigation over the state's controversial SB 2010 law.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, is a result of federal "constitutional failure to secure the border and protect Arizona citizens against the negative effects of illegal immigration," the governor said in a press release.
"Our message for the federal government is simple: Use federal resources to combat the cartels that are breaking federal law," Brewer said. "Don't attack Arizona, which is helping to enforce federal law."
The most heavily debated parts of Arizona's law were blocked by a federal judge last year, including the requirement that police question people about their immigration status while enforcing other laws.
The state's counterclaim alleges five failings by federal authorities:
- Failure to gain "operational control of the border," as required under the Secure Fence Act of 2006
- Failure to protect against "invasion"
- Not enforcing immigration laws
- Not reimbursing Arizona for more than $760 million in combined costs for the incarcerating illegal aliens
- Violating the 10th Amendment by not allowing Arizona to enforce immigration laws
"While control of the border is a federal responsibility, illegal aliens who successfully cross the border and commit crime in Arizona become an Arizona responsibility," Horne said.
"By not doing its job, and using its alleged 'pre-emption' rights to stop Arizona from performing its law enforcement obligations, the United States is violating Arizona's 10th Amendment rights," he said.
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While the feds, including border chief Alan Bersin, have touted the increasing safety and security of the border region, Brewer sees it otherwise.
"Residents of the region remain victims of drug and human smuggling, as well as the ever-present threat of cartel violence spilling over from the south," she said.
Seizure of smuggled drugs have increased, and the number of illegal aliens crossing the border has dropped, under a local-federal law enforcement partnership, Bersin said in Tucson this week.



Latest comments on this storyRead all 4 »
I wish Governor Jan Brewer luck but the deck may be stacked.
When I started looking into where the money was coming from to buy off the politicians and subvert the immigration laws of the world, I came across what may be the root of many of our problems. Fiat Money.
No matter how much real money people can put together to build their countries the way they want there are those that can print up what ever it takes to get their way.
Maybe this will help make the danger of fiat money clear.
Imagine you and me are setting across from each other. We create enough money to represent all of the world’s wealth. Each one of us has one SUPER Dollar in front of him.
You own half of everything and so do I.
I’m the government though. I get bribed into creating a Central Bank.
You’re not doing what I want you to be doing so I print up myself eight more SUPER Dollars to manipulate you with.
All of a sudden your SUPER Dollar only represents one tenth of the wealth of the world!
That isn’t the only thing though. You need to get busy and get to work because YOU’VE BEEN STIFFED with the bill for the money I PRINTED UP to get YOU TO DO what I WANTED.
That to me represents what has been happening to the economy, and us, and why so many of our occupations just can’t keep up with the fake money presses.
We are going to have to regain control of our government before we can regain control of our currency and regain control of our country.
As more States insist on zero tolerance laws, millions of illegal nationals will exodus those regions and speedily head for places such as the Sanctuary State of California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah and other welcoming location with their hands out for millions of dollars in public services and entitlements. This huge departure situation is happening now in the non-tolerant in the Grand Canyon State, as the illegal alien population is leaving and crowding into California and States where their is welfare and little or no enforcement laws. That means some easy-going States will be splitting at the seems with more refugees pouring in, that the lunatic fringe in the legislators has allowed to proceed. Taxpayers will really be hurting in States where no policing laws are prevalent. If this is not your idea of rampant welfare entitlements for illegal workers and their families, you had better search your conscious and see if your compassion is wrecking your states future.
America will always need the highest skilled scientists, engineers and computer experts that will be highly sought after for their qualifications. These legal immigrants will never become a public charge, looking to apply for food stamps and public welfare. However what we don’t need, nor should they be accommodated by the radical open border zealots, is the desperate, impoverished who slip into this nation without a penny. They are exploited by all different trade contractors, sub-contractors and any incorrigible employer such a “Chipotle” fast food group of eating houses hiring hundreds of illegal laborers. These are jobs that our own children can do or legal resident teens, which right now in this complex recession could make a little extra money for college. It is estimated there are at least 8 million foreigners in every caliber of jobs; not just using a leaf blower or bricklayer or janitorial services.
No longer can this country afford to cater to those people who slip through immigration loopholes such as the instant-baby-citizenship of the 14th amendment and allowing the indigent parent to stay. This fraudulent enterprise on its own costs US citizens billions of dollars a year, especially when the rest of large family is smuggled into this land. We must stop coddling the destitute of other countries, and look to our own population below the poverty line. We must make E-Verify, 287 (g) policing authority, a mandatory high priority, with hefty fines, confiscation of company assets and painful prison sentences. Our country is in a serious situation, brought on by thirty years of illegal immigration neglect and now States have seen the writing on the wall and costs for education, health care and imprisonment, which the US government never reimburses? Those soft States that bow down to the illegal immigration invasion, will soon find themselves in a financial quaternary.
Astronomical amounts of money in food stamps and too many freebies for illegal nationals to subsist on, thanks to both political parties. This blogger gets thousands of emails a day, which my response is a format letter. Just like Egyptian revolution, it’s up to the larger majority of the American people to stand up and protect and defend their citizenship, the US Constitution from Liberal progressives who would steal it from you. Make a point of joining the TEA Party, or a pro sovereignty organization such as NumbersUSA who allows free faxes to your lawmakers. Above all else place a call with the federal switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to be connected to your Senate or Representative and speak your mind.