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Former Arizona Gov Jan Brewer announced her endorsement for Trump on Saturday. Brewer, who is well known for her rigid positions on immigration, became nationally known after introducing the controversial Senate Bill 1070 in 2010, which allowed for law enforcement to stop and question individuals suspected of being undocumented immigrants. The bill also made it a misdemeanor offense if individuals did not have proper documentation on hand.
“A nation without borders is like a house without walls – it collapses. As Arizona’s Governor, I witnessed too much heartache, loss and suffering caused by illegal immigration,” Brewer announced in her statement released by Trump’s campaign.
As a high-profile, two-term governor, Brewer has clout in the Republican community with regard to immigration policy. Her endorsement helps Trump as he narrows in for the Republican nomination.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced last week that federal inmates wanted for deportation will be released from prison and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, rather than the custody of local law enforcement.
The change is spurred by the shooting of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in San Francisco last year, who was killed by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an immigrant who had been deported five times and shot Steinle after being released from federal prison. Local police ignored federal authorities request to hold him for deportation proceedings.
Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) supported the change and stated that federal grant funding available to local and county authorities is contingent on their cooperation with ICE. The policy is intended to prevent suspects from evading prosecution by ICE because they are being deported.
Former Mexican presidents Felipe Calderon and Vincente Fox both compared Trump’s “racist” rhetoric to that of Hitler, in two independent interviews last week.
On Friday, Fox stated that Trump “reminded [him] of Hitler” in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Calderon echoed the sentiment at a press event in Mexico City on Saturday.
“This logic of praising the white supremacy is not just anti-immigration,” Calderon said. “He is acting and speaking out against immigrants that have a different skin color than he does, it is frankly racist and [he is] exploiting feelings like Hitler did in his time.”
Trump, whose controversial plan to build a wall at the border and make Mexico pay for it, has also labeled immigrants as criminals, rapists and drug smugglers.