ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says he supports Arizona legislation calling for tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants.

Opponents of the law have called for Major League Baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game out of the state.

La Russa says Arizona has a problem that the national government has failed to remedy. The manager, who lives in northern California, spoke this week before a game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I'm actually a supporter of what Arizona is doing," La Russa said. "If the national government doesn't fix your problem, you've got a problem. You've got to fix it yourself. That's just part of the American way."

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a state law in April requiring police officers to question a person's immigration status if there's reasonable doubt he or she might be in the country illegally.

Dozens of St. Louis Tea Party members were at Busch Stadium to show their support of the Arizona immigration law, prompting La Russa to touch on the subject.

La Russa told reporters he encouraged the presence of different points of view, and said he believed the Tea Party's stances were "correct" on "a lot of things."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.