Franks: Obama Administration's Arizona Lawsuit "Beyond Shameful"

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bethany Haley or Ben Carnes at 202-225-4576

Franks: Obama Administration's Arizona Lawsuit is "Beyond Shameful"

July 6, 2010 - Congressman Trent Franks (R - AZ) today released the following statement in light of the Obama Administration's announcement that it would sue the State of Arizona for its recent immigration law, SB 1070:

"The president himself has spoken falsely about SB 1070 and has deliberately mischaracterized it to the American people. Now those charges he falsely levied against SB 1070 are glaringly absent from his lawsuit against the bill.

"It is beyond ironic that the main claim in the lawsuit is that Arizona is wrongly preempting a federal responsibility when the entire reason the legislation was necessary in the first place was precisely because the federal government was simply not living up to its responsibility.

"Today's announcement makes it clear that we were better off when the Obama Administration simply refused to do anything about our porous borders, because now that the President has finally decided to act, his first move is to sue Arizona for having the audacity to protect its citizens and secure its borders.

"This lawsuit is also beyond shameful and by seeking to block SB 1070, Arizona's necessary and otherwise completely constitutional immigration law, the Obama Administration is literally now attempting to use litigation to force our state to have weaker borders and to turn a blind eye to dangerous criminals who are here illegally.

"Many drug smugglers, human traffickers, and immigrants from terror-sponsoring nations illegally enter Arizona every day. Despite the incredible national security risk such an uncontrolled border poses, not to mention the overwhelming burden it places on the state of Arizona, President Obama still somehow fails to grasp the seriousness of the problem, and his dangerously misguided policies continue to put every person in America at risk."