Thread: AZ: Unexpected Governor Takes an Unwavering Course

Unexpected Governor Takes an Unwavering Course
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Published: April 24, 2010

PHOENIX — One night last week, Grant Woods, the former state attorney general, spent more than an hour on the telephone with Gov. Jan Brewer, a fellow Republican who was considering whether to sign into law the nation’s toughest immigration enforcement bill.

The governor listened patiently, Mr. Woods recalled, as he laid out his arguments against the bill: that it would give too much power to the local police to stop people merely suspected of being illegal immigrants and would lead to racial profiling; that some local police officers have been abusive toward immigrants; and that the law could lead to costly legal battles for the state.

When he hung up, Mr. Woods knew he had lost the case. “She really felt that the majority of Arizonans fall on the side of, Let’s solve the problem and not worry about the Constitution,â€

[b]Jan has always been a tough cookie and very partisan,â€