Courtesy of the American Immigration Council
June 25,
2012
Washington D.C. - In a blow to the state anti-immigration movement, the
Supreme Court ruled today that the authority to enforce immigration laws rests
squarely with the federal government, limiting the role that states may play in
crafting state-level answers to immigration enforcement. By a 5-3 margin, the
Court struck down three of the four provisions of SB 1070 that were challenged
by the Obama administration as pre-empted under federal law. While the Court
agreed that Arizona’s attempt to limit immigration by creating new laws and new
penalties to punish undocumented immigrants was pre-empted, it found that a
provision requiring local police to investigate the legal status of suspected
undocumented immigrants was not pre-empted on its face. The court read this
provision very narrowly, however, leaving open the door to future lawsuits
based on racial profiling and other legal violations.
“Today’s decision makes clear that the federal
government—and only the federal government—has the power and authority to set
the nation’s immigration policies,” said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director
of the American Immigration Council. “Despite its strongly worded rejection of
Arizona's effort to set its own immigration policies, the Court adopted a
wait-and-see approach to the controversial racial profiling section of the law.
There is already ample evidence of discrimination and abuse in Arizona, and
many communities in the state will bear the brunt of the Court's unwillingness
to face that reality. It's time for Congress to heed the dire warnings
contained in this opinion and recommit to fixing our broken immigration
system.”
Link to American Immigration Council Press Release.
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