In an opinion piece published on July 4 in the Washington Times, Schweikert claims that President Barack Obama is not taking illegal-immigration enforcement seriously and Arizona's undocumented residents need not fear the state's police state because of it.

The reason, he explains, is because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced it would terminate part of its 287(g) task-force agreements in Arizona.

The announcement came after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Senate Bill 1070 and its upholding of the papers-please portion of Arizona's breathing-while-brown law.

"This means that most of those in our state illegally no longer have to fear federal immigration authorities because the Obama administration effectively is no longer enforcing immigration laws in Arizona," the congressman wrote.

But DHS' announcement doesn't give undocumented immigrants in Arizona any reason to feel safe, says B. Loewe, an organizer with the pro-immigrant National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

"The Supreme Court ruling and DHS' reaction didn't give any breathing room for migrants in Arizona," Loewe countered.

The 287(g) agreements being terminated allowed certain specially-trained cops the ability to question a person's immigration status in the field.

But still standing are the 287(g) jail agreements, which allow 287(g) officers to question a suspect's immigration status once he or she is booked into jail.