• Greenspan Says Government ‘Activism’ Hampering U.S. Recovery – Bloomberg News
• Connecticut bill seeks to unconstitutionally restrict political and religious speech by employers – Washington Examiner
• ATF Let Hundreds of U.S. Weapons Fall into Hands of Suspected Mexican Gunrunners – Center For Public Integrity
• ATF Orders Immediate Review of Gun-Running Operation – Center For Public Integrity
• Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico – CBS News
• 4 Dems join GOP fight to block EPA climate rules – Associated Press
• Democrats keep misleading on claimed budget ‘cuts’ – Washington Post
• Immigration Wars: More States Looking at Arizona-Style Laws – ABC News
• Border Agents Forced to Face Down Bullets With Bean Bags, Critics Say – Fox News
• Records show agents fired beanbags in fatal border gunfight – Arizona Daily Star
• Just 32% See Democrats’ Agenda As Mainstream – Rasmussen Reports
• Some Democrats joining GOP in fight against union privilege – Washington Examiner
• Wisconsin governor issues letters on possible layoffs to unions – CNN
• Eric Holder: Black Panther case focus demeans ‘my people’ – Josh Gerstein, Politico
• American Bar Association Executive Council Vows to Fight Anti-Sharia Law Measures – CNSNews.com
• Lowering U.S. Corporate Tax Rate to 10 Percent Will Create Jobs, Spur Economic Growth, Study Says – CNSNews.com
• Public Workers Join the New Reality – Froma Harrop, Creators.com
• Busting the Birth-Control Myth – Kirsten Powers, The Daily Beast
• Judge blocks bail bond bid by church and Rangel for ‘preppy gun moll’ – New York Post
• Rep. Rangel Causes Stir In Courtroom, Gets Reprimanded By Judge – CBS New York
• Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and the spotlight-chasing candidates of 2012 – George Will, Washington Post
• George Will Rips Gingrich, Huckabee and Malzberg – Noel Sheppard, Newsbusters.com
• The Weekend Interview with Paul Johnson: Why America Will Stay on Top – Brian Carney, The Wall Street Journal

Feel free to add you own links in comments.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has announced the state will sue the federal government for its failure to secure the border and enforce immigration laws.

Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne held a news conference Thursday to announce their fight in the face of a federal judge’s ruling that parts of SB1070, the state’s controversial immigration law, are unconstitutional.

The five counter claims in Arizona’s suit are:

Failure to obtain operational control of the border

Failure to enforce immigration laws

Failure to protect Arizona from harm from immigration

Failure to reimburse Arizona for more than $763 million in costs for incarceration of criminal aliens

Violating Arizona’s 10th Amendment, failure to protect Arizona citizens’ welfare

The situation along our southern border has become untenable, the federal government is failing at one of its most basic responsibilities… to protect American citizens from foreign threats. There is violent drug war going on in Mexico, that violence is spilling across our borders and endangering the lives of American citizens.

The federal government has moral, ethical and legal obligation to defend our borders and protect American citizens from foreign threats. For far to long they’ve been turning a blind eye to the problems along our borders — particularly our southern border.

Simply put, its the lack effective border and immigration enforcement that has helped to create the lawless climate along  our southern border. If the federal government can’t or won’t protect American citizens then individual states are going to have to step in and fill the void as best they can.

Related

• Border Patrol Data Contradicts Napolitano’s Testimony That U.S. Has ‘Effective Control of the Great Majority’ of Both Northern and Southern Borders – CNSNews.com
• Immigration Wars: More States Looking at Arizona-Style Laws – ABC News

From the Washington Times:

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was “growing dissatisfaction and concern” over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning.

The resolution said ICE leadership had “abandoned the agency’s core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety,” instead directing its attention “to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.

“It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk,” the union said.

In a strongly worded statement, the union and its affiliated local councils said the integrity of the agency “as well as the public safety” would be “better provided for in the absence of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven.”

Interestingly Mr. Morton told the Washington Post in an interview a few weeks ago that calls for his resignation were ‘just part of the territory,’:

“You develop a thick skin in a job like this,” said Morton, who admits to reading many of the brickbats that come his way but says they don’t consume him. “I’d imagine that for some other senior leaders in government, the day when someone calls for their resignation would be the day they’d remember throughout their career. That’s just part of the territory here.”

That may be true Mr. Morton, but if you’ve lost the confidence of the men and women who work for you I don’t see how you can do your job effectively.

Related

• Border troops to be delayed further – KMSB-TV, Fox 11 Arizona
• Lack of resources curtails ICE tracking of illegals – Washington Times
• Arizona sheriffs call ICE chief’s visit a ‘stunt’ – Washington Times
• GAO: Border Security Technology Program ‘Has Not Produced Expected Results’ – CNSNews.com
• Perry invites Obama to tour the border with him – Houston Chronicle
• What We’re Doing to Secure the Border -  Alan D. Bersin and John Morton, Wall Street Journal
• Head of ICE receives unanimous no-confidence vote from own agents…accused of de facto amnesty – Dave Gibson, Examiner.com

Huh??? She’s didn’t just say  “If this was Texas, which is a state that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this saying that they had a major issue with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would have to look twice at this.  But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border”, did she?

Yup, she did… Idiot!

One of her fellow Supervisors, Joe Rice, quickly corrected her and she did make a rather valiant attempt at damage control:

While speaking at the meeting, West did go on to talk about National Guard troops on the border in Arizona.  West points to that as she tells us that she simply misspoke.

“I did get a passing grade in Geography in high school and in college and I do obviously know that Arizona is on the border,” West said in an interview after today’s meeting.

West claims that the point she was trying to make is that because Texas has a much larger border with Mexico, she might feel differently about such a law in that state.  “Had Texas come out with the legislation, having the largest border, I think that I would be more receptive to the fact that there was a problem.  But having it be Arizona, having it be the second largest boarder and knowing there are troops on the border in Arizona, it didn’t seem to me that this legislation was particularly necessary at this moment in time,” West said.

Sorry, but I’m not buying that she misspoke… If you watch the video it seems pretty clear she said what she intended to say.

Regardless, Ms. West needs to spend some time in Arizona… Visit Pima County where drug smugglers are reportedly setting up permanent observation posts to monitor the movements of law enforcement agents along the border. Or visit Nogales where Drug smugglers are threatening the lives police officers.

It’s easy for people like Ms. West to criticize Arizona’s new immigration law… She doesn’t live there and doesn’t have to deal with daily consequences of the Federal Government’s failure at one its most basic responsibilities — to protect its citizen from foreign threats.  Mexico’s violent drug war is spilling across Arizona’s border and endangering the lives of American citizens… If the Federal Government won’t fulfill its most basic obligation then the Sate of Arizona has to fill void.

Edit: I linked to this below, but I should mention that the National Guard troops Ms. West refers to are not there to help enforce immigration laws, their mission is to help stem the flow of guns and drugs across the border. That’s all well and good, but it’s only half the job… it’s the lack of effective immigration enforcement that’s helped to create the lawless environment along the border.

If we’re going send National Guard troops to the border to interdict the flow of guns and drugs they should also be authorized to help enforce immigration laws while there… The two things go hand in hand.

Related

• Arizona Senator Kyl Confirms His State is on the Mexico Border - WTMJ-TV
• County Supervisor, Peggy West, dumbest politician east of the Mississippi – Jim Kelley, Tuscon Citizen
• Arizona Democrats urge Obama not to sue over controversial immigration law – The Hill
• US troops won’t be used to stop illegal immigration – AFP
• Widow of Houston Officer Killed by Illegal Immigrant ‘Shocked’ at ICE Appointment – Fox News
• Homeland Security Denies Interest in Blanket Amnesty for Illegals – Fox News
• An impatient Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer leans on Obama again over illegal immigrants – Los Angeles Times

George W. Bush may not have been as blunt about it, but in reality President Obama is simply picking up right where Bush left off.

The whole clip is worth watching, but the money bit comes at around the 3:20 mark:

H/T: ColdWarrior at Red State

Update (Tuesday, June 22, 2010): I should note the White House is denying that Pres. Obama ever told Sen. Kyl that, Sen Kyl is of course standing by his remarks:

This morning, a White House spokesman told ABC News that Kyl is lying.  “The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it,” communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC.  “There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before, but, as the President has made clear, truly securing the border will require a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.”

Now, in an interview with KVOI radio in Arizona, Kyl says his account of the Oval Office conversation is accurate.  “What I said occurred did occur,” Kyl said.

“One way you can verify the validity of what I said is that that’s exactly their position,” Kyl continued.  “Some spokesman down at the White House said no, that isn’t what happened at all, and then proceeded to say we need comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border.  That is their position, and all I was doing was explaining why, from a conversation with the president, why it appears that that’s their position.”

After Kyl’s radio interview, a Kyl spokesman sent a note emphasizing the senator’s point. “There were two people in that meeting and [spokesman] Dan Pfeiffer was not one of them,” spokesman Andrew Wilder said.  “The White House spokesman’s pushback that you must have comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border only confirms Kyl’s account.”

Oh brother, what we have here is good old fashioned game of he said he said… There’s no way to verify who’s telling the truth here. I’m more inclined to believe Sen. Kyl for the simple reason actions speak louder then words and as I wrote yesterday, the Federal Government has been turning a blind eye to the problems along our southern border for years. Barack Obama isn’t doing anything differently here than George W. Bush did… They both pushed for comprehensive immigration reform paying lip service to improving border security. It’s just more of the same old same old.

Previous

• What Open Borders Has Wrought

Related

• Justice Department: Border Patrol Agents Assaulted Daily, Kidnappings Every 35 Hours in Phoenix, 1 in 5 Teens Using Drugs Predominantly Supplied by Mexican Traffickers – CNSNews.com
• White House says Jon Kyl story not true – Andy Barr, Politico

KING: A lot of Democrats in Congress want to you investigate [Joe Arpaio]. They think he is over the line. He says he is just enforcing the law and the problem is the federal government.

NAPOLITANO: Well, you know, Sheriff Joe, he is being very political in that statement, because he knows that there aren’t enough law enforcement officers, courtrooms or jail cells in the world to do what he is saying.

What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the employers who consistently hire illegal labor, the human traffickers who are exploiting human misery.

And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.

Excuse me??? With all due respect madam secretary you might want to review 8 USC Sec. 1325:

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as
designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.
Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.

Call me crazy but shouldn’t the Secretary of Homeland Security know that illegal immigration is a crime?

Unfortunately, I suspect Sec. Napolitano knows all to well what the law is, and like administration she serves, has chosen not to actively enforce it.

Related

• Napolitano: Illegal Immigration NOT a Crime? – Jena McNeill, The Heritage Foundation