Brewer says rescinding 287g ‘new low’

Tue, 2012-06-26 10:44 AM
By: Mark Rockwell

The political bite of the June 25 Supreme Court decision that partially struck down Arizona’s strict immigration law continued to chew through state and federal ties as the day wore on.

Immediately after the decision was released by the Supreme Court on the morning of June 25, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer declared it a victory for her state, mainly because it still allowed local law enforcement officers to check the identity papers of suspected illegal immigrants when they were stopped.

It struck down two other provisions. One required federal registration cards for illegal immigrants to get work and the other allowed local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant when they had probable cause to believe they committed a crime that would cause them to be deported.

The decision was seen mostly as a draw between state and federal authorities.

Later in the afternoon of June 25, however, Brewer said the White House had revoked the 287 (g) agreement that allows Arizona law enforcement officers to partner with federal authorities to enforce immigration law, essentially crippling the state’s ability to implement the newly-allowed provision.

Specifically, DHS announced it was terminating 287(g) task force agreements with the Arizona Department of Public Safety; the Florence, Mesa and Phoenix police departments; and the Pima, Pinal and Yavapai county sheriff’s offices. Those were the only agencies left in Arizona that had street-level 287(g) agreements, according to the AzCapitol Times.

“It’s worth noting that 68 law enforcement entities in 24 states have functioning 287(g) agreements with the federal government,” she said in a June 25 statement. “But it appears the only agreements eliminated today were those in Arizona, the state that happens to be on the front lines of America’s fight against illegal immigration. We are on our own, apparently,” said Brewer.

Brewer said the latest action by the Obama White House was only the latest in a string of efforts to fight Arizona’s enforcement efforts. “Still, the disarmament of Arizona’s 287(g) agreements is a new low, even for this administration,” she said.

She added that since 2006, DHS has credited the program with identifying almost 300,000 potentially-removable aliens nationally and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has trained more than 1,500 state and local officers to help with immigration enforcement. “In fact, even as the President was wiping out Arizona’s 287(g) agreements, the ICE website itself continued to herald the collaborative approach of the 287(g) program, noting, ‘Terrorism and criminal activity are most effectively combated through a multi-agency/multi-authority approach that encompasses federal, state and local resources, skills and expertise,’” she said.

Brewer says rescinding 287g