MacCallum and Fox News “brain room” can't find Bush immigration lawsuit Fox reported on

While criticizing the Justice Department's lawsuit against Arizona over the state's controversial immigration law, Fox “straight news” anchor Martha MacCallum claimed that she and Fox News' “brain room” couldn't find "[a]nother case where the federal government sued a state." However, the Bush administration once sued Illinois, seeking to have an Illinois immigration-related law declared unconstitutional -- a story Fox News covered at the time.

MacCallum can't find "[a]nother case where the federal government sued a state"

MacCallum: “I've asked our brain room ... and so far I haven't come up with anything.” From the July 7 edition of Fox News Radio's Kilmeade & Friends:

MacCALLUM: I still can't get over the fact that the federal government is suing one of the 50 states. And I've asked our brain room, because they're the experts around here, you know, when there's a precedent for this? Another case where the federal government sued a state, and so far I haven't come up with anything.

BRIAN KILMEADE (host): Nothing.

“Fox News Alert: the Homeland Security Department suing the state of Illinois over illegal immigration”

Bush administration sued Illinois, seeking to have immigration statute ruled unconstitutional. In September 2007, the Bush administration sued the state of Illinois, seeking to have an Illinois immigration statute declared unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Illinois statute was intended to prevent businesses from using an E-Verify program over concerns about the program's speed and accuracy. The Los Angeles Times reported:

Brought by the Justice Department on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, the civil suit is intended to preempt an Illinois state law that bars businesses from using the employee verification program until its databases are faster and more accurate. The suit is also intended to send a clear message to other states and cities about the way they handle immigration enforcement. ... Advocates cited the Illinois lawsuit as yet another blow to immigrants -- along with an increase in work-site raids and high-profile deportations -- in the aftermath of the Senate's failure to pass a comprehensive immigration law.

Fox News reported on the Bush-Illinois lawsuit. During the September 24, 2007, edition of Your World, Fox News host Neil Cavuto interviewed Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about the lawsuit. Cavuto introduced the segment by saying: “Meanwhile, another Fox News Alert: the Homeland Security Department suing the state of Illinois over illegal immigration. The lawsuit claims that the state is refusing to let employers check the status of its workers with something called the E-Verify system. That is an online system set up by the Homeland Security Department. Illinois says that the program leaves simply too much room for error.”