Obama, Brewer meet at White House

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer met at the White House Thursday to discuss their differences on border, immigration and crime issues.

A statement released by the administration said the two found common ground on at least one thing: "... The president and governor agreed that the lack of action to fix the broken system at the federal level is unacceptable."

"The president urged Governor Brewer to be his partner in working in a bipartisan manner on comprehensive immigration reform to implement the type of smart, sensible and effective solutions the American people expect and deserve from their federal government," the statement said.

Obama also told Brewer of his concerns about Arizona's tough new immigration law, "including that a patchwork of different state immigration regulations around the country would interfere with the federal government's responsibility to set and enforce immigration policy."

The two discussed Obama's decision to deploy up to 1,200 more National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border and his request for $500 million in supplemental funds from Congress to beef up border protection and enhanced law enforcement.

While listening to Brewer's concerns, Obama noted his administration's efforts to put more pressure on illegal trafficking organizations that have resulted in significant drug seizures and a reduction in violent crime.

The Washington Post reported Brewer, a Republican, said Obama, a Democrat, told her he would send White House staff to Arizona to confer with state and local officials.

Brewer said the president was cordial and the White House said Obama thought it was a good meeting, The Washington Post reported.

Brewer said Obama didn't want to talk about whether the Justice Department intends to sue to block Arizona's law, set to take effect next month, the newspaper said.