State law is illegal if you ask the Federal Arizona immigration lawsuit
The Arizona immigration law was challenged Tuesday in a lawsuit that was filed by the U.S. Justice Department. The Federal government is doing their part to stop the law from taking effect this month. The Arizona immigration lawsuit explains that Arizona's new law is unconstitutional because it overrides federal immigration law. Supporters of the Arizona immigration law say that a state overwhelmed with illegal immigration can't wait for the federal government to deal with immigration reform.
Source for this article: Federal Arizona immigration lawsuit says state law is illegal by Personal Money Store
Arizona immigration law is unconstitutional – Feds
The Arizona immigration law says that state and local police to question and possibly arrest illegal immigrants during the enforcement of other laws. Immigrants have to carry alien registration documents all the time. It was reported by the Washington Post that the Arizona immigration lawsuit says the law illegally intrudes on federal prerogatives, invoking as its main argument the legal doctrine of "preemption," which says federal law trumps state statutes. The Justice Department argues that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility.
Feds - Immigration law violates civil rights
The preemption doctrine is being used in the Arizona immigration lawsuit because it has been established in Supreme Court as one of their decisions. According to the Post, some legal experts have said this is a good strategy to persuade a judge to declare the Arizona immigration law unconstitutional. But the Arizona immigration lawsuit also asserts that the Arizona law would violate civil rights and lead to police harassment of both U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.
The epicenter of the immigration crisis is actually Arizona
Arizona passed the immigration law after years of public outcry over social difficulties credited to illegal immigration, including unemployment, drug trafficking and violent kidnappings. As outlined by the Associated Press reports, state is the biggest gateway to the U.S. for illegal immigration and is home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. Arizona's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, has accused the Obama administration of failing to secure the border with Mexico, forcing her state to act on its own on the immigration crisis. Brewer's spokesman explained to AP that the governor would have preferred the federal government focus its resources and attention on the immigration crisis instead of the Arizona immigration lawsuit.
According to a poll, border security trumps immigration reform
Despite the outcry for immigration reform legislation, CNN reports that several senior Democratic sources said they see virtually no chance of Congress stepping up to deal with it before November's midterm elections. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. national poll conducted in late May says nearly nine out of 10 Americans want to increase U.S. police force along the border with Mexico. Eight in 10 also supported a program that would allow illegal immigrants already within the United States to stay here and apply for legal residency if they have a job and also if they pay taxes. But just about 38 percent say that immigration reform should be a higher priority than border security.
Citations:
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/06/AR2010070601928.html?hpid=topnews
Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jup3stJNgod5yvfvOU1IInU0erAwD9GPN88G0
CNN
cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/06/arizona.immigration.lawsuit/index.html?npt=NP1
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