Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer refused to back down or apologize for her statement that the majority of undocumented immigrants coming into Arizona are drug mules and insisted that she is not racist in an interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos on Sunday.
Brewer was confronted by the veteran news anchor on his show, Al Punto, over her statements.
“You understand people were upset that you said that the majority of undocumented immigrants were drug mules when in reality they are not. The majority are not,” Ramos told the governor.
There is no evidence behind Brewer’s statement, which she made in June, that the majority of undocumented immigrants coming to Arizona are “bringing drugs.” The unapologetic Brewer continued to stand by her comments though she did clarify that many undocumented immigrants may be “drug mules” without knowing it.
“Well, if you know; if you are coming across with the drug cartels, and you’re hauling drugs, then you are. And they’re probably not doing it willingly; they are probably not doing it willingly,” Brewer said.
The governor previously had to retract her claims of “beheadings” in the Arizona desert and a spike in violence in the state she attributed to drug cartels after reports showed that violence has actually decreased in Arizona and not a single case of a beheading could be substantiated.
“I actually don’t see a lot of new in her statement,” Clarissa Martinez, from the National Council of La Raza, said. “I think that the ongoing conversation on the issue of immigration really continues to serve as evidence that the main motivator in moving forward with this law is political. If the concern is the movement of human smugglers and drug and arms trafficking, then 1070 does very little to solve that problem.”
During the interview, Ramos asked Brewer about the perceptions in the Hispanic community that she is racist.
“I feel that I’m somewhat hurt that they would think that I would be a racist, you know,” Brewer said. “And I was… and a bigot and that I would stand by and allow any kind of racial profiling or anything like that to take place.”
The governor pointed out that she has many Hispanic friends.
“I love them from the bottom of my heart,” Brewer said. “I love everybody, Jorge, from the bottom of my heart.”
Brewer dismissed last month’s embarrassing incident, where she appeared to lose her train of thought for several seconds, in a gubernatorial debate against opponent Terry Goddard. (La Plaza)
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“I got a brain freeze for whatever the reason,” Brewer said. “But I got 28 years of solid good experience of leading the state and I will continue to do that in the best manner that I know how to do it and I think I’ve done good.”
She’s Not racist shes just inconsiderate and Ignorant of the role she plays as a public figure.