ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER ON ARIZONA LAW: IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL BUT I HAVEN'T BOTHERED TO READ IT

CAPS asks: Is it ignorance, incompetence, or intransigence?
Santa Barbara, CA – May 17, 2010 – When Arizona passed its new immigration law in April, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that the Department of Justice was “considering all possibilities, including the possibility of a court challenge.” Weeks later, Holder admitted in Congressional testimony that he had not bothered to read the law.

“This is absolutely outrageous,” said Marilyn DeYoung, Chairman of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS). “Our nation’s highest law-enforcement officer is issuing threats and intimidation over a law he has not bothered to read. Obviously, political considerations are trumping his duty to enforce immigration and labor laws.”

President Obama also blasted the legislation, saying that it “threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness.”

The Arizona law was written, in fact, to mirror federal law and court decisions. The requirement for foreigners to carry identification has been part of federal law for 70 years. Standards for “reasonable suspicion” of illegal presence in the United States were delineated by the Supreme Court decades ago.

“It is clear that this administration has no interest in enforcing immigration law. It could be ignorance or incompetence on Holder’s part, but it more likely stems from the intransigence of Obama in refusing to secure our borders,” said DeYoung.

In spite of these threats and calls for boycotts of Arizona, several polls have shown that large majorities of the American population support the Arizona legislation.

“Once again, the people are ahead of the politicians,” DeYoung stated. “The Arizona law was a state response to an unacceptable situation. It addresses the failure of the federal government to enforce immigration law at the border and in the workplace.”