And under the existing circumstances, I understand there are situations where people indeed need care and need services, but I believe in America that the majority of those people are getting those services under situations and circumstances that are afforded to them by their health care providers and their state government.
The fact of the matter is, is that we need our borders secured. Certainly, we realize that there's going to have to be some kind of immigration reform, but I don't believe any of that's going to move forward until our border is secured.
Law enforcement in the state of Arizona supports Senate Bill 1070. We have many organizations and groups of the officers on the ground that understand the problem, need another tool in order to address the problem and support it wholeheartedly.
It's the federal government's responsibility to secure our borders. We passed Senate Bill 1070 as another tool in order to protect the citizens of Arizona. We have over 500,000 illegal immigrants living in Arizona. And we simply cannot sustain it.
If the federal government won't secure the border, the State of Arizona will step in to complement federal efforts in a constitutional manner and protect the security of its citizens.
Our borders have got to be secured. You know, when President Reagan, who was one of my idols, granted amnesty to about three million illegal immigrants, it was based on the fact that the borders would be secured. That didn't happen. It didn't happen during the Bush administration.
I always tried to do what I believed is right and I've always voted the way that I believe was the right way for my constituency, and that's what I'm doing when I govern.
As the governor of the state of Arizona, I took an oath to uphold the laws and to protect the people of Arizona. And I'm going to be relentless in it. I'm going to do what is right.
And you know, I said yesterday, you know, you know, if they're not going to - if the feds aren't going to do their job, well, then, I'm up to suing the feds to make them do their job! I mean, they sued Arizona, you know, we can sue them back! I mean, they're not - they're not enforcing the laws!
I believe it could very well be unconstitutional to ban people. We are a country of immigrants, but we have to know who's coming in. They need to come in legally. And we need to be sure that we have been able to have them satisfy the criteria that we set for them to come into our country.
And now, since I've been governor since last January, I have written numerous letters to the administration in regards to securing our borders with absolutely no response. So we have been facing this crisis, and it's devastating the people of Arizona. And I feel as governor I have a responsibility to protect the citizens.
