The costs to the states from President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration are going to be "horrendous," Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer told "Fox & Friends."
As localities tried to recover economically from the recession, Brewer said states could not bear the additional costs for services to illegal immigrants they would be forced to provide.
"It's horrendous. Financially, it's a killer," Brewer said Wednesday.
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"We're still in economic concerns that we've been facing for the last few years. And, to be forced upon us to take care of these people, educate them, provide healthcare for them, Social Security for them — the bottom line is that we simply cannot afford it," she said.
Obama's executive order, announced Nov. 20, grants temporary protections for millions of illegal immigrants.
According to federal law, workers with legal status who pay into
Social Security and Medicare are eligible to receive benefits.
Brewer called Obama's executive order "absolutely wrong and unjust and, certainly, unconstitutional," adding that she was going to discuss with
Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott his plan to sue Obama over the issue, and, perhaps, "join with him to see if something can be accomplished."
Brewer said, given the chance, she would invite Obama to Arizona to "see with your own eyes the issues that we're all facing, and it's up to you to lead this country, and do it constitutionally."