WASHINGTON. D.C. – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the following statement today regarding a federal judge’s ruling to block key provisions of legislation passed by the State of Arizona providing state law enforcement with the authority to enforce immigration laws:

“The federal government has a right and a responsibility to enforce existing laws, but when they fail to meet that responsibility, we should not stand in the way of the states that take action to respond to the very real threat of border violence, drug cartels and human smuggling.  The people who live under the constant threat of border violence have every right to be protected and have every right to defend themselves, their families and their communities.

“I am certain that the Supreme Court would agree that there is no legal recourse or precedent for stopping a state from operating within its rights by asserting its sovereignty in support of immigration laws that the federal government has failed to enforce.  There’s nowhere in the Constitution that says a state is limited to what it absolutely won’t do and can be stopped for what it might do and to exercise a judgment against a state that has passed a law that is consistent with existing federal law is beyond absurd.”

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