Brewer Lambasts Possible Federal Suit Over SB 1070

By Jamilah King Jun 18, 2010

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer seem to be in a war of words this week after Clinton threatened to sue over SB 1070. In an interview with an Ecuadorean television station earlier this month, Clinton said that President Obama, who previously called the bill "misguided", thinks states should leave immigration policy to the feds and that the "Justice Department, under his direction, will be bringing a lawsuit against the act." For her part, Brewer’s upset that the news reached Ecuadorean viewers first. "To learn of this lawsuit through an Ecuadorean interview with the secretary of state is just outrageous," she said in a statement excerpted by the LA Times. "If our own government intends to sue our state to prevent illegal immigration enforcement, the least it can do is inform us before it informs the citizens of another nation." The White House has since hasn’t confirmed that the Department of Justice will move forward with the suit, but did tell CBS News that it’s the move is still under consideration. If the DOJ plans to move forward, it’ll join a slew of groups taking similar actions, including the ACLU, Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, and Asian Pacific American Legal Center. The Arizona law is set to go into effect on July 29. Already, thousands of documented an undocumented Latinos have reportedly fled the state amid fears of rampant racial profiling once the measure law takes effect.