An impatient Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer leans on Obama again over illegal immigrants
June 24, 2010


President Obama was busy Thursday entertaining Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with local cheeseburgers. Obama paid the bill.

But in his White House mailbox the American chief executive should find a new letter from an impatient Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer about the illegal immigrant and unsecured federal border issues -- and laced with a little salsa.

The Republican governor is reminding the Democrat president that three weeks ago during their overdue Oval Office meeting he promised to send her more material within two weeks, especially regarding deployment of National Guard troops to fulfill the federal government's role of securing the nation's international borders.Arizona and Obama officials now have a June 28 meeting set.

Her letter comes the week before Obama's Justice Department is expected to sue Arizona over its tough new illegal immigrant law that seeks to enforce U.S. laws against illegal immigrants that the U.S. is not enforcing.

Citing recent reports of federal lands within Arizona being closed to Americans because they are infested with criminals and....


...potentially dangerous illegal immigrants, Brewer says: "This is unacceptable."

"Instead of warning Americans to stay out of parts of our own country," she adds, "we ought to be warning international lawbreakers that they will be detained and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." (As usual, the full text of her letter is below.)

The governor takes the opportunity to reiterate her own four-point border security surge strategy and to request overdue federal reimbursements of hundreds of millions of dollars ion state expenses for illegal immigrant costs.

Obama has maintained that securing the border with Mexico can only happen as part of a broader immigration reform package that he doesn't see happening for some time. Polls have shown, however, that about two-thirds of Americans agree with Arizona's stance on tightening immigrant law enforcement now.

And within Arizona the dispute has within only three months vaulted Brewer from a three-way tie to far ahead of Republican challengers in the state's August gubernatorial primary. Her likely opponent is Democrat Attorney General Terry Goddard, who after meeting with Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, has refused to defend the state law.

Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has also surged in local support for his work on the oil spill disaster, while Louisianans disapprove of Obama's crisis contributions by about 60%.

Although Brewer's letter is dated Wednesday, it almost seems to note Obama's Thursday lunch with the Russian. She invites the president to tour Arizona's troubled border areas with her, as New Mexico's next door Democrat Gov. Bill Richardson did.

"And when you do come," Gov. Brewer closes, "lunch is on me!"


Text of Letter from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to President Obama, as provided by her officeJune 23, 2010

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for the opportunity to visit with you in person during my recent trip to Washington, D.C. As you know, the issue of border security is foremost in the thoughts of many Arizonans and Americans alike, and I appreciated the chance to personally relate to you my concerns and outline my proposed solutions.

Mr. President, the need for action to secure Arizona’s border could not be clearer. Recently, my office received a number of calls from constituents concerned at reports of new sign postings in interior counties of Arizona warning residents not to access federal lands due to criminal activity associated with the border. These warnings signal to some that we have handed over portions of our border areas to illegal immigrants and drug traffickers. This is unacceptable.

Instead of warning Americans to stay out of parts of our own country, we ought to be warning international lawbreakers that they will be detained and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We ought to be establishing measures to ensure that illegal traffic of any sort is kept to an absolute minimum, and that Americans are safe and secure within our own borders.

When we visited, you committed to present details, within two weeks of our meeting, regarding your plans to commit National Guard troops to the Arizona border and expend $500 million in additional funds on border security matters. You also discussed sending members of your senior staff to Arizona to discuss your plans. While I am pleased the 28th has been set for a meeting time and we have reviewed a copy of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Southwest Border Next Stepsâ€