The federal government just filed suit against the state of Arizona for daring to enforce the law. It's deeply troubling to see the federal government attacking our own state governments to protect lawbreakers, but on the plus side, the lawsuit was filed by Eric Holder, which means at least the legal work should be sub-par.

White House files lawsuit against Arizona over controversial immigration law

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration was expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday against Arizona over its controversial immigration legislation, making a legal attempt to kill the measures recently described by the president as posing a serious threat to civil rights.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, were to announce the suit later Tuesday. It alleges Arizona illegally intruded into federal jurisdiction when it passed the legislation set to become law later this month.

The state law gives police the power to question anyone they suspect is an illegal immigrant. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the state was forced to deal with its illegal immigrant problem in the absence of any federal immigration reform.

Upon word of the impending lawsuit, Brewer's spokesman called it "a terribly bad decision."

"Arizona obviously has a terrible border security crisis that needs to be addressed, so Gov. Brewer has repeatedly said she would have preferred the resources and attention of the federal government would be focused on that crisis rather than this," Paul Senseman said.

The White House and civil rights organizations have condemned the law as amounting to racial profiling. President Barack Obama recently urged Congress to make immigration reform a legislative priority in the months to come as he called the Arizona law "unenforceable" and a surefire road to civil rights abuses.

The law has sparked an emotional debate about immigration throughout the United States. A number of other states and jurisdictions have followed Arizona's lead, introducing similar laws even as Arizona suffers a public relations black eye amid dozens of nationwide boycotts.

The economic impact on the state hasn't stopped one municipal candidate from proposing even tougher measures aimed at illegal immigrants.

Barry Wong, a candidate for the Arizona utilities commission, is threatening to cut off power and gas to illegal immigrants if he's elected.

"It is not a right. It is a service," Barry Wong said recently.

Brewer recently allocated US$250,000 to help improve the state's public image. Tourists are reportedly shunning Arizona not just because of the new law, but also due to perceptions that the state is too dangerous to visit because of the escalating drug war at the Mexican border.

In a recent report, Arizona's Tourism and Economic Development Task Force urged Brewer and other elected officials to stop portraying the state as unsafe if they want tourists to return.

The state must "provide facts that inform potential visitors/meeting planners and the general public that Arizona is a safe and welcoming destination," the task force said in its report.

Two Arizona senators assailed the White House on Tuesday for failing to deal with a mounting illegal immigration problem until now.

"The Obama administration has not done everything it can do to protect the people of Arizona from the violence and crime illegal immigration brings to our state," Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl said in a statement. "Until it does, the federal government should not be suing Arizona."