Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Meets Meets with Pres. Obama
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer met with Pres. Barack Obama at the White House yesterday to discuss security plans along the Arizona-Mexico border and the state's new immigration enforcement law. While the two leaders don't agree on how to handle the steady and dangerous flow of illegal aliens into Arizona, both did agree that something needs to be done.
"We know we're not going to agree on certain issues until other issues are worked out," Gov. Brewer said.
The two discussed Pres. Obama's recent announcement to deploy 1,200 National Guard troops to the Arizona border as well as his request for an additional $500 million in funding. Gov. Brewer has maintained that the President's move is a good first step, but more needs to be done to secure the border.
Pres. Obama again criticized the bill recently signed into law by Gov. Brewer that allows local police to enforce immigration laws. The law makes it a crime to be in the state of Arizona illegally and allows officers to inquire about an individual's legal status after they have already stopped, detained, or arrested the individual for another reason and if they have reasonable suspicion that the individual is in the country illegally. Pres. Obama told Gov. Brewer that it was up to the Justice Department as to whether or not the federal government would sue the state.
Pres. Obama did tell Gov. Brewer that state laws are not the way to deal with immigration and a comprehensive approach is needed.
Comprehensive reform is "the only way we're going to solve this crisis. It is not going to be solved by one method alone," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
For more information, see USA Today.