Eleven Republican attorneys general held a press conference on Arizona’s border with Mexico on Wednesday to discuss the status of illegal immigration since Donald Trump resumed the presidency. The group was very optimistic about the decreases in illegal immigration and related crimes such as fentanyl dealing.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (pictured above, lectern) opened the remarks, noting that he co-sponsored Arizona’s SB 1070 in 2010 with the late State Senator Russell Pearce. He said the tough illegal immigration law “really put Arizona on the map as the state that was leading state level efforts to stop illegal immigration and assist the federal government in the intervening 15 years.”
During the four years of the Biden administration, he said the Republican attorneys general “were the rear guard.” He said the first lawsuit filed against a Democratic administration over illegal immigration was filed by a group of states led by Texas, and the last one was led by Kansas, to stop giving Obamacare benefits to illegal immigrants. Of the 31 total lawsuits filed, he said Republican states have won the vast majority.
In contrast, he said Republican attorneys general are “playing a very different role now. We’re not playing a role of trying to force the federal government to do its job and to and to abide by the law, but rather, we’re trying to help the federal government restore the rule of law to immigration.” He said their role is as a “force multiplier,” which includes “writing amicus briefs supporting the administration and supporting other entities that are taking the law enforcement side of immigration cases.”
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