Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law Bites the Dust

U.S. v. State of Arizona

Unless you’ve been living in a cave underneath the ocean, you know that Arizona passed a law known as SB1070 this year in order to curb its immigration problem, real or perceived.  You may also know that the federal government sued the state of Arizona in order to prevent its enforcement of the law.  The feds also moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the law’s enforcement while the case is pending.  Yesterday, the federal judge hearing the case issued a favorable decision on the feds’ motion.  Although SB1070 was not struck down in its entirety, the judge ruled that several portions (the most controversial) are preempted by federal law, and therefore, unenforceable.  Specifically, the following sections:

A.R.S. § 11-1051(B), requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person;

A.R.S. § 13-1509, creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien registration papers;

A.R.S. § 13-2928(C), creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work; and

A.R.S. § 13-3883(A)(5), authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States.

The judge did not base her decision on the arguments which are the most widely circulated in the media—that is, SB1070 will lead to “racial profiling.”  In fact, I don’t think that argument was even made by the feds in its filing papers.  Rather, the judge agreed with the government that application of the above provisions impermissibly interferes with the federal government’s authority on all immigration related matters.  Therefore, the doctrine of federal “preemption” comes into play.

The primary reason for the above sections being struck down was that Congress has expressed an interest in creating a body of nationally uniform immigration laws and regulations.  States which purport to pass immigration related laws interfere with Congress’s intent.   In short, the feds have the last word on immigration law, and states which try to pass their own immigration restrictions are stepping on the feds’ authority.  The feds have certain enumerated powers under the Constitution, and can be very jealous in guarding them.

Other reasons include:  the Arizona law creates additional burdens on the federal agencies and interferes with their ability to allocate resources (translation:  the feds would have to spend too much time and resources chasing after and verifying the people the Arizona law “catches”), imposes an unreasonable burden on lawfully present aliens and even U.S. citizens to demonstrate the status to state officials (translation:  U.S. citizens are not required to carry documents establishing their status and likewise for many lawful foreign visitors, so Arizona shouldn’t try to make such a requirement unilaterally), causes international relationships to be strained because it imposes burdens on all foreigners in the state (translation:  other countries would start treating U.S. citizens abroad badly if they felt their nationals were receiving unfair treatment from the U.S.), the federal government has already rejected a system by which aliens’ papers are routinely demanded and checked as proposed by Arizona (translation: been there, done that, not interested in redoing), and  criminalizes activities which are not crimes under federal immigration law (translation:  Arizona, stay in your own lane, we know what we’re doing).

Despite this setback, the governor of Arizona has vowed to fight on and appeal the case.  I doubt, however, that she will get very far, especially in the 9th Circuit.  The organs of the federal government, including its court system, tend to be self-supporting.  I could be wrong, but SB1070 is as good as dead, which is a good thing, because too much ink has been spilled about it already.

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