AZ Governor: Republicans losing Latino vote because Obama is 'race-baiting'

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) angrily accused the Obama administration Monday of "race-baiting" in an effort to wrest Latino voters from the Republican party.

In an interview with Politico, Brewer said there was "no doubt" in her mind that Obama, through his campaign, was accusing her party of being "bigots."

"It's all the time, that we're race-baiting," she said. "It's all the time, you know, that we're bigots."

Brewer said that "you would think" her party would be the one the Latino community would gravitate toward.

"They're pro-family, they're pro-life, they're hard workers, they're entrepreneurs," Brewer said, adding that they don't "because they keep hearing all the other stuff that the Obama administration keeps bashing people with."

The Miami Heraldreported Monday that recent polling shows Latino voters favoring Obama over presumptive GOP candidate Mitt Romney by nearly 40 percentage points.

Brewer also accused Obama of failing to secure the country's borders with Mexico. Earlier this month, she issued an executive order designed to undermine Obama's recent deferred-deportation reforms for young undocumented immigrants which went into effect this month.

She also bemoaned the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down most of SB1070, and the subsequent move by the Department of Homeland Security to rescind its 287(g) agreement with the state, which would have allowed Arizona the ability to check a suspect's immigration status.

"He hasn't secured my borders," she said. "He's told the Border Patrol, actually, to look the other way. He took 287(g) away from all of my law enforcement in Arizona, so now they can't even call in and use it as a tool. And then on top of that, on the same day, what does he do? He establishes a hotline, so if you feel like your civil rights have been infringed upon, you've got a direct line to [the Department of Justice]. Oh come on."

As The Washington Postnoted Monday, the GOP continues to accuse the Obama administration of undermining immigration law despite Homeland Security figures showing that Obama has deported undocumented immigrants at a higher rate than his predecessor, George W. Bush. During Obama's tenure, a total of 1.4 immigrants have been deported, only 600,000 less than during the eight-year Bush presidency.

Criticism of the law as being motivated by racial bias was renewed last month after emails from the bill's author, former state Senate President Russell Pearce (R) were revealed to likened current immigration laws to "importing thousands of Islamic jihadists and hope they adapt to the American Dream."

Brewer's interview, posted by Politico Tuesday, can be seen below.

[h/t Talking Points Memo]