MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) – Governor Doyle has denied a request from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to join Michigan in filing a brief in the federal government's lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law.

The Michigan brief says states have the right to instruct police officers to contact federal immigration officials if they have reasonable suspicion that someone is in country illegally.

“It is disappointing that the governor will not authorize the attorney general to defend the state's interest in law enforcement,” said Van Hollen spokesman Bill Cosh.

Van Hollen claims the federal lawsuit is an assault on a state's discretion to exercise its police powers.

The Obama administration filed the suit, claiming that the Arizona law creates a patchwork of state laws in violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.