AZ Governor Jan Brewer Criticized, Even from McCain, on “Immigrants = Drug Mules” Statement

America's Voice Blog

Posted 06/28/10 at 10:19am

Over the weekend, AZ Governor Jan Brewer drew criticism for comments she made Friday that exposed a frightening ignorance on the topics of immigration and crime.

AP's Paul Davenport has more in Arizona Governor: Most Illegal Immigrants Are Smuggling Drugs. It turns out that even Senator John McCain, who has enthusiastically backed the state's new "papers please" immigration law and recently sung a hard-line tune on the topic, disagrees with Brewer on her latest assertion. Crooks and Liars has the video, over at McCain disagrees with Brewer: Most undocumented immigrants are not drug mules.

The level of intelligence in the Arizona immigration debate right now is breathtaking. Then again, this is the same governor who signed the state’s controversial profiling bill, SB 1070, even though she had no idea “what an illegal immigrant looks like.”

Here’s a refresh:

On the "drug mule" topic, Andrea Nill writes at Think Progress:

Brewer’s remarks were in response to Matt Jette, one of the other candidates, who pointed out that most undocumented immigrant come to the U.S. just to work:

JETTE: You act as if the state of Arizona is being terrorized by illegal immigrants. It’s simply not the case. Crime is on the way down. The bottom line with SB-1070 is who can be more extreme with the bill. [...] These people, a lot of them, are just trying to feed their family. They just want to work. Isn’t that a Republican mantra?

Nill cites recent FBI statistics that prove Jette's point:

Despite an increase in illegal immigration, “Arizona is in the midst of a years-long decline in violent crime that pre-dates SB 1070.”

For more on crime statistics in AZ, check out Alternet’s It's Time to Set the Record Straight on Border Crime.

It seems that the White House may be gearing up to counter the Arizona law, a move that is sure to set off a new flurry of intentional mis-information and toxic mistruths meant to win elections-- the real crime story in this debate.

Meanwhile, Chicago Tribune reporter Anotonio Olivo explains how the failure to deal with immigration at the federal level impacts police across the country:

A debate over how local law enforcement should deal with illegal immigration has heated up in the wake of a new Arizona law that requires police to check the status of people they stop. In Lake County and other areas where immigrant communities have swelled, it is a question that street cops face every day. [...]

"We're in this federal holding pattern ... and it undermines the credibility of local law enforcement," said Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, whose jurisdiction includes Waukegan. "It makes us look like we ... have no interest in upholding the Constitution."

Over at Daily Kos, an Interview with Ruy Teixeira gets into how a majority of Americans can support both the Arizona law and common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform:

The reason is very simple: supporters of the Arizona law are also overwhelmingly supportive (84 percent) of comprehensive immigration reform. This suggests that much of the support for the Arizona law reflects an urgent desire for action on the immigration issue rather than a single-minded commitment to the Arizona approach.

It's long past time for Congress and the White House to block what is happening in Arizona, and in danger of spreading across the country, by passing real, federal immigration reform as soon as possible. Targeted reforms, including the Dream Act and Ag Jobs, can and should pass immediately, as stepping stones to a larger, comprehensive overhaul of our nation's outdated immigration laws.