Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is none too happy about the federal government’s challenge to her state’s anti-immigrant law being referenced to in a United Nations Human Rights report. The State Department cited their lawsuit against Arizona as an example of how the United States is protecting human rights.
Brewer, who signed the legislation into law just a few months ago, sent a letter on Friday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling the State Department report “downright offensive.” While a judge has blocked certain parts of the law from taking effect, many civil rights activists have condemned the law for unfairly targeting Latinos and what they say will lead to racial profiling.
“A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world,” the report read. “The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined.”
The reference is part of a required report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. In the 30-page report, the government’s challenge to the anti-immigration law is listed as one of about 100 steps it has taken to uphold human and civil rights in the U.S.
The report, however, did not mention some of the most controversial pieces of the law. Law enforcement officials in the state would be required to question a person’s legal status under “reasonable suspicion.”
“The idea of our own American government submitting the duly enacted laws of a state of the United States to ‘review’ by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional,” Brewer wrote. “Human rights as guaranteed by the United States and Arizona Constitutions are expressly protected in S.B. 1070 and defended vigorously by my administration.”
The UN should send observers to Arizona…how would you like that Governor?