Senator Kyl: They're holding the border hostage - UPDATE: White House Denies

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Quite Rightly  posted a transcript  of the video below showing Senator John Kyl, who met with constituents at a town hall meeting sponsored by the North Tempe Tea Party explaining to his constituents why Obama refuses to secure the borders.  The meeting was held June 18, shortly after news was broken  that the administration intended to challenge Arizona's immigration law 1070 in court.  Senator Kyl responded to a question from an audience member questioning Senator Kyl about the legal challenge.  Senator Kyl explained President Obama's opposition to securing the border:

I met with the president in the Oval Office, just the two of us . . . and we had a discussion about this. . . . Here’s what the president said:

“The problem is,” he said, “if we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform.”

In other words, they’re holding it hostage. They don’t want to secure the border unless and until it is combined with comprehensive immigration reform.

Now, I explained, “You and I, Mr. President, have an obligation to secure the border. That’s an obligation. It also has potentially positive benefits. You don’t have to have comprehensive reform to secure the border, but you have to secure the border to get comprehensive reform.” I said, “You’d be surprised. Maybe you don’t think that there would be any more incentive for comprehensive reform. But I’m not so sure that that’s true.” In any event, it doesn’t matter. We’re supposed to secure the border.

But that’s why it isn’t being done. They frankly don’t want to do it. They want to get something in return for doing their duty.

It's entirely debatable whether there would be support for comprehensive reform once the borders were secured.  Both parties want to be seen as catering to the growing Hispanic voting block.  The problem for politicians, however, is simple - the American people want the borders secured before any plan for immigration reform becomes law.  This is hardly asking a lot.  As Kyl points out, it is the responsibility of those elected to govern  to secure the border and protect the citizens of Arizona who are bombarded with the crime that spills across its border.

 Democrats won, or so they keep reminding us.  There is no excuse for their dereliction of duty here but who will hold them accountable?  We have that opportunity in November folks but beyond that it should become common knowledge the Democrats have no intention of securing the border.  Let voters everywhere keep that in mind when AG Holder at the behest of the President sue the state of Arizona for attempting to enforce the borders Democrats refuse to secure.

See the entire video here but I have embedded the transcripted portion below:


UPDATE:
Predictably the White House has issued a denial that all but calls Senator Kyl a liar, then proceeds to affirm the validity of Kyl's statement:

The White House Monday rejected Kyl's account.

“The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC News. "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.”

Senator Kyl stands by his statement:

Kyl spokesman Ryan Patmintra said the senator stood by his account, which he said was "about as straight forward as you can get."

"There were two people in that meeting, and Dan Pfeiffer was not one of them. Senator Kyl stands by his remarks, and the White House spokesman’s pushback that you must have comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border only confirms Senator Kyl’s account."

 H/T: Hot Air Headlines  Heh -  I love this comment by Daggett:

Yeah, I tried to get someone to install a security system on my home. He said, “I can’t install this until we address amnesty for thieves.”

 I second Janet's comment below:

This is incredible stuff. All I can say is COME ON 2012! 

 Can't wait to see the back of the whole bunch.

Hillary Clinton let the cat out of the bag in Ecuador

Via Hot Air
Greta Van Sustern had Governor Jan Brewer on as a guest last night to react to news the Obama Justice Department would sue Arizona to block their immigration law.  Sec of State Hillary Clinton let the cat out of the bag in Ecuador before the news was delivered to the American people or the people of Arizona.  Brewer was stunned hoping that Obama would instead follow through on points made in their "very cordial" meeting held just two weeks ago:

Brewer, for her part, has previously said the president has ignored her requests to work together on border security issues and is ignoring its responsibilities along the border.

The Arizona governor spoke to reporters following the meeting, which she described as "very cordial."

"I am encouraged that there is going to be much better dialogue between the federal government and the state of Arizona," she said. "I hope that's not wishful thinking, I hope it's positive thinking."

Brewer said the president told her officials would head to her state in the next two weeks to see the situation firsthand and to consider how best to deploy federal border security resources. Mr. Obama recently announced plans to request from Congress $500 million and deploy 1,200 National Guard troops to improve southern border security, and Brewer said Mr. Obama indicated the majority of that money and troops would go to Arizona.

Asked about the possibility of a lawsuit, Brewer said the president indicated that he did not want to discuss the matter and "brushed over a little bit." She said she got the impression he is leaving the decision to the Department of Justice.

Looks like Governor Brewer was engaged in wishful thinking if she truly believed there would be better dialogue let alone any kind of serious assistance from the Obama administration.  Instead they are going to get the lawsuit :

As Hotsheet reported yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a television interview in Ecuador this month that the Obama Justice Department "will be bringing a lawsuit" against the controversial Arizona immigration measure signed into law earlier this year.

The comment was striking because both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had said only that the administration was considering a suit. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called Clinton's comments stunning and added that "to learn of this lawsuit through an Ecuadorean interview with the secretary of state is just outrageous."

It was unclear yesterday whether Clinton's comments were simply a prediction or mistake or whether instead she was getting ahead of a planned announcement by the administration.

Now a senior administration official tells CBS News that the federal government will indeed formally challenge the law when Justice Department lawyers are finished building the case. The official said Justice is still working on building the case.

It seems Hillary may have gotten ahead of the planned announcement if the Justice Department has truly not finished building its case against the Arizona law.  Brewer has every right to be outraged by this completely incompetent maneuver by Obama and his Justice Department.  Good luck to Obama and his fellow Dems with a lawsuit against a law that has broad support  from the American people.  Meanwhile support for the re-election of Obama is looking pretty bleak.

No one in Arizona is laughing, Mr President

Via Instapundit

Governor Jan Brewer seems to be the one who is laughing last despite the jokes made at the expense of the Arizona immigration law she supported.  A recent Fox News poll found 61% of voters nationally supported the Arizona law intended to enforce the border laws the Federal government refuses to enforce for political reasons.  As Glenn Reynolds notes:

Forget the Arizona bill itself. What this poll says is that despite weeks of national-media coverage that was unrelentingly negative, calling the bill racist, drawing Nazi analogies, etc. — only 15 percent are really against it. Sorry guys — you’re still talking, but people aren’t listening.

The Obama administration proves itself to be as out of touch with mainstream America as his cheerleaders in the media.  This really isn't that difficult but politicians hoping to pander to the hispanic voters continually make the problem worse by their failure to address immigration.  Most Americans welcome immigrants who choose to come here legally.  This is what makes America the "melting pot" after all, isn't it?

The solution is straightforward as I see it.  Enforce the borders to allow citizens who suffer from the failure to enforce immigration laws develop confidence their rights are being protected.  Then, give clarity to the process by which immigrants who respect the laws of the United States become citizens.  Shouldn't hispanic voters expect that those who seek citizenship obtain it through legal means?  Politicians are the ones who incite hatred and racism by their failure to enforce laws they were sworn to uphold.  Instead of calming the situation, President Obama fans the flames by calling a law bigoted and racist.  It's time to be a grown up and do the job he spent several years campaigning for.

Sister Toldjah weighs in.  Da Tech Guy wonders whether the California principal who sent students home for wearing shirts depicting the flag should give his opinion on the law.  Pat in Shreveport comments on the insanity in California schools. Carol's Closet adds a touch of irony.

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