Federal Arizona immigration lawsuit says state law is illegal

The Arizona immigration law was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department. The federal government is trying to stop the law from taking effect. The Arizona immigration lawsuit explains that Arizona’s new law is unconstitutional because it overrides federal immigration law. Supporters of the Arizona immigration law believe that a state can't wait for the federal government to deal with immigration reform.

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Feds – Arizona immigration law is unconstitutional

The Arizona immigration law needs state and local police to question all illegal immigrants during the enforcement of other laws. Immigrants have to carry alien registration documents all the time. According to the Washington Post, 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. Enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility according to the Justice Department.

According to Feds, immigration law violates civil rights

The preemption doctrine is getting used within the Arizona immigration lawsuit because it has been established in Supreme Court decisions. The Post said some legal experts have said this can be a good strategy to persuade a judge to declare the Arizona immigration law unconstitutional. But the Arizona immigration lawsuit also asserts the Arizona law would violate civil rights and lead to police harassment of both U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.

Arizona – the epicenter of the immigration crisis

Arizona passed the immigration law after years of public outcry over social problems credited to illegal immigration, including unemployment, drug trafficking and violent kidnappings. As outlined by the Associated Press reports, state is the biggest gateway into the U.S. for illegal immigration and is home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. Arizona’s Republican governor, who’s 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 that the federal government focus its resources and attention on the immigration crisis instead of the Arizona immigration lawsuit.

Poll states that border security trumps immigration reform

Despite the outcry for immigration reform legislation, it was reported by CNN that various 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 in the United States to stay here and apply for legal residency if they have a job and also if they pay taxes. But 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