The United States Administration is expected to sue the State of Arizona over a controversial recently enacted immigration law.

Hilary Clinton made the plans known when speaking to a local television station in Quito, Ecuador. The State “will be bringing a lawsuit” against Arizona, the Secretary of State said.

The new immigration law passed by Arizona makes it a crime to be in the United States illegally and would have massive repercussions for the thousands of undocumented Irish and others currently living and working in the United States passed the expiry of their visa.

She told the local Ecuadorian television channel how “President Obama has spoken out against the law, because he thinks that the federal government should be determining immigration policy.”

Arizona’s Governor, Jan Brewer, was not too happy at the news. The Administration apparently hadn’t even told the State before it broke the news to the TV station. She said “If our government intends to sue our state to prevent illegal immigration enforcement, the least it can do in inform us before it informs the citizens of another nation.”

Public opinion, however, seems to be in favor of the Arizona law. According to a recent survey carried out by ABC/The Washington Post, 58 percent of Americans would support the measure, 42 percent of whom “strongly” support it, while 41 percent stated their opposition to the immigration reform.

Senator Clinton also said during the interview that it was one of Barack Obama’s key priorities in office to introduce a comprehensive program of immigration reform, although she did not specify exactly what measures this would entail.

There’s been some speculation as to whether or not the statement represents official policy, as a previous statement by the administration had merely stated that it was possible that the Department would sue the State over the law.

The lawsuit, if taken, will be brought by the Department of Justice on behalf of the central Federal United States Government.