Governor Jan Brewer sparked a national debate on border security and illegal immigration when she signed SB1070. While Brewer has been celebrated by many for taking action to enforce laws that Washington has long ignored, those who oppose the law have chosen pithy punch lines over aggressive action. Far away from the border at the White House Correspondents Dinner, President Obama decided that Arizona’s unsecured borders and illegal immigration crisis are a laughing matter. Unfortunately, no one in Arizona is laughing (Released May 7, 2010).
TRANSCRIPT
Videotext from the governor:
In December 2008, the U.S. Justice Department said that Mexican gangs are the “biggest organized crime threat to the United State.”
In 2009, Phoenix had 316 kidnapping cases, turning the city into our nation’s kidnapping capital. Almost all of the persons kidnapped were illegal immigrants or linked to the drug trade.
Until January of 2009, any smugglers carrying under the threshold of 500 pounds of narcotics were often not prosecuted.
Narcotics prosecutions in Arizona have risen 202% in 16 months.
1,080 prosecutions will STILL be refused this year in the Tucson Sector alone.
What does President Obama have to say about Arizona doing the job Washington won’t?
Obama:
And we all know what happens [chuckle] in Arizona when you don’t have I.D. Adios, Amigos!
[Camera pans to Racquel Welch and Alec Baldwin laughing with crowd at White House Correspondents’ Dinner]
Videotext from the governor:
President Obama, Broken Borders are not a laughing matter.
No one in Arizona is laughing.
Do your job and secure the border.
Immigration is a complex issue and many Americans feel strongly that laws should be obeyed, while at the same time have empathy for hard-working Hispanics (many that know how to work harder than our spoiled suburban kids). Layer on top of those complex emotional issues, the alarming rate of the increase in crime in Arizona. What do you have? A pompous president inappropriately making light of the facts and the complexity of the immigration issue. Obama is a hypocrite and an elitist. Arizona has a problem, and while he preaches that the press and politicians need to be less partisan, he makes fun of the Arizona decision. He is NOT the leader and mitigator he promised to be in his campaign. He is a cheap shot, faker.