For months, advocates have been waiting for the White House to intervene into the mess created in Arizona because of SB1070 via Justice Department lawsuit. We've gotten hints from Secretary Clinton and from an unnamed White House aide, but nothing official from the Department of Justice. We're still waiting.

We have received mixed signals from the administration. The President has called Arizona's law 'misguided,' but the administration has yet to take concrete steps toward preventing the implementation of this 'misguided' law. The Arizona law will take effect at the end of July. The time for delay, 'further review,' and speculative leaks is over. If the administration is to intervene, it should do so now.

Arizona's law is the direct result of Washington's failure to lead on immigration. By not intervening, the administration would be exacerbating one wrong by creating another. Whatever lawsuit the administration brings, it should send a very clear signal to others states considering similar measures that immigration is a federal responsibility. At the same time, however, the administration should redouble its efforts toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform in 2010.

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