Feds Won't Help Arizona Nab Immigrants: White House

The Obama administration is taking quick action following the Supreme Court's decision on Arizona's immigration law. The federal government will only aid the state in undocumented immigrant cases that meet existing federal rules—applicable, for instance, if the person in question is a convicted criminal or recently arrived in the US, an official tells CNN. The Justice department has also set up a hotline for civil rights complaints regarding Arizona's law.

Nor will Homeland Security boost its presence in Arizona, even though the state is likely to seek more assistance, the source says. "We have limited resources. It doesn't make sense ... to spend those resources in a scattershot or random fashion," the official notes. "Instead they need to be focused on individuals who pose a public safety threat or challenge the integrity of our borders." Meanwhile, the administration is ditching agreements giving local police the right to enforce federal immigration rules—prompting fury from Gov. Jan Brewer, who says the law has helped ID "nearly 300,000 potentially-removable aliens nationwide." (More President Obama stories.)