Palin: Obama Doesn't Have the "Cojones" for Immigration Reform
Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday that President Obama doesn't have the "cojones" to secure the nation's borders and fix its immigration system. She defended Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's decision to fight the federal government in court over Arizona's new, controversial immigration law.
"She's going to do all that she can to continue down the litigation path to allow secure borders," Palin said on Fox News Sunday. "Jan Brewer has the cojones that our president does not have to look out for all Americans, not just Arizonans, but all Americans, in this desire of ours to secure our borders and allow legal immigration to help build this country, as was the purpose of immigration laws."
A District judge last week temporarily halted controversial portions of Arizona's newly-enacted law, including the requirements for police officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws and for immigrants to carry their papers at all times. Brewer has vowed to fight the decision, setting up a legal battle that could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Opponents of the law say it could lead to racial profiling, and they say it usurps federal authority to enforce immigration laws. The law's supporters say the state was acting in the absence of federal enforcement.
"If our own president will not enforce a federal law, more power to Jan Brewer and 44 other states who are in line to help support Jan Brewer in state laws, state efforts, to do what our president won't do," Palin said.
Mr. Obama, in an exclusive interview with CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith, said that said he understands frustration over illegal immigration, but he warned against local, "patchwork" solutions.
"I understand the frustration of people in Arizona. But what we can't do is demagogue the issue," he said. "And what we can't do is allow a patchwork of 50 different states, or cities or localities, where anybody who wants to make a name for themselves suddenly says, 'I'm gonna be anti-immigrant and I'm gonna try to see if I can solve the problem ourself.'"
