News coverage of the interactions between Gov. Jan Brewer and President Obama over SB 1070 began with Ariz. lawmakers pass toughest illegal immigration law in U.S. in the Arizona Republic, which marked the passage of the bill by the Arizona House. Gov. Brewer had five days to sign the bill into law, veto it, or do nothing and let it become law. On April 22 the Arizona Daily Star ran a report by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, Brewer reallocates AZ border resources, criticizes Obama for inaction, in which Gov. Brewer put more money into border security. In the article Gov. Brewer blamed the federal government for not doing more to secure the border.
On April 23, Gov. Brewer signed SB 1070 into law. The Star ran a story an April 23, Arizona immigration bill: Both sides continue to pressure Gov. Brewer, which described protests at the state Capitol in the hours before Gov. Brewer signed the bill. The same day, the Republic ran Arizona Immigration Law: Gov. Brewer’s statement, which contained a series of quotes from her statement as she was about to sign the bill. In her statement she called SB 1070: “another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix …” Also that day, the Star ran an Associated Press report, Obama calls Ariz. immigration bill ‘misguided,’ vows review. In that story President Obama expressed his concern that SB 1070 could violate people’s civil rights.
The next day, April 24, the Republic ran Arizona governor signs immigration law; foes promise fight, which explained the new law and quoted reactions from President Obama, the Mexican government, protesters, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.
On April 28, the Star ran a report by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, Brewer strikes back at critics of new law, in which Gov. Brewer criticized the federal government for not securing the border. Her comments came a few hours after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Department of Justice would review the law to see if it is constitutional.
The back-and-forth between Gov. Brewer and President Obama continued for the rest of the summer. Below is a list of the news articles cited above.
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