[Update] Brewer's reaction to this latest "assault" on Arizona, below the post.
Immediately after the Supreme Court ruled to allow Arizona law enforcement to ask for documentation from individuals lawfully detained for another reason, reports show the Obama administration suspending immigration agreements with Arizona.
Via Washington Times:
The Obama administration said Monday it is suspending existing agreements with Arizona police over enforcement of federal immigration laws, and said it has issued a directive telling federal authorities to decline many of the calls reporting illegal immigrants that the Homeland Security Department may get from Arizona police.
Administration officials, speaking on condition they not be named, told reporters they expect to see an increase in the number of calls they get from Arizona police — but that won’t change President Obama’s decision to limit whom the government actually tries to detain and deport.
“We will not be issuing detainers on individuals unless they clearly meet our defined priorities,” one official said in a telephone briefing.
The official said that despite the increased number of calls, which presumably means more illegal immigrants being reported, the Homeland Security Department is unlikely to detain a significantly higher number of people and won’t be boosting personnel to handle the new calls.
“We do not plan on putting additional staff on the ground in Arizona,” the official said.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Arizona may not impose its own penalties for immigration violations, but it said state and local police could check the legal status of those they have reasonable suspicion to believe are in the country illegally.
That means police statewide can immediately begin calling to check immigration status — but federal officials are likely to reject most of those calls.
First the Obama administration attempted to sue Arizona to stop them from doing their job of protecting their state from illegal immigration and when the High Court gave Arizona a partial victory, on appeal, over their sovereignty, Obama now refuses to do his own job in protecting the country.
[Update] Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer's reaction to Obama's continued "assault" on AZ:
“I believe that this Supreme Court unanimously upheld the section that it is the heart of the bill,” she said. “It’s a victory for the rule of law and the 10th amendment.”
By the same token, Brewer recognized the threat implicit in the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to suspend cooperation with Arizona state authorities via 287(g) task force agreements. “This continued assault on the state of Arizona in regards to illegal immigration has been totally unfortunate,” Brewer said. “The bottom line is that the feds need to step up and do their job and secure our border so we can work on other issues that are a result of the borders not being secured.”
Brewer was deeply upset at the new round of federal pressure on Arizona. “At every turn,” she said, “we see the federal government putting their finger down on other places … They rescinded the 287(g) for all law enforcement in the state of Arizona immediately after this ruling came out. They’re taking away the ability for us to work hand in hand with ICE. So now instead of being able to access the [citizenship] database we’re going to have to call in and go through ICE to verify if somebody’s illegally in the state or not. That’s an assault on Arizona. And it was only rescinded in the State of Arizona.”
Related:
Embed: Supreme Court Decision on Arizona vs United States, SB 1070
Irony: Liberals Pat Supreme Court On The Back With One Hand, Stab Them With The Other