Bolton Blocks Bulk of Bill
Yesterday, immigration advocates were vindicated as U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton struck down the most heinous provisions of Arizona's anti-immigrant bill, SB 1070, which takes effect today. In her ruling, Judge Bolton rejected the assertion of Arizona's lawyers that the statute was crafted to complement federal laws and insisted that the provisions interfered or directly conflicted with them.
In her preliminary injunction, Bolton delayed the stipulations that require immigrants to carry papers and that banned them for soliciting employment in public places while the federal lawsuit proceeds. She also blocked officers from making warrantless arrests of "suspected" undocumented immigrants reasoning that it would violate the rights of citizens and legal residents and unduly burden federal resources and agencies, which would be asked to field a flood of requests for confirmation of immigration status, thus distracting from other priorities.
Though the Justice Department chose only to focus on pre-emption in its lawsuit, suing Arizona for usurping jurisdiction of legislation that is exclusively the province of the federal government, Judge Bolton also raised the issue of racial profiling, a concern to many who opposed the bill. In her decision, she wrote that there is a "substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens" and that the bill would increase "intrusion of police presence into the lives of legally present aliens (and even United States citizens), who will necessarily be swept up" by the law.
Judge Bolton's ruling, though a welcome reprieve for those most threatened by SB 1070, is unlikely to close the debate. Her injunction does not guarantee that the Justice Department will prevail in having the entire law declared unconstitutional. Even should the administration win, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court where legal experts expect the case to be heard because it presents a conflict between federal and state law.
Yesterday's decision sends a clear message that Arizona's attempt to "fix" the broken immigration system by aggressively seeking and deporting undocumented immigrants is misguided and ineffective. At this point, legislatures in 17 states are considering copycat legislation, reasoning that the broken immigration system is a scourge that needs to be tackled. If Arizona is denied the right to pass or enforce immigration policy, then the federal government is obligated to carry out that duty. The federal government must act quickly to prevent the imminent passage of patchwork immigration laws that threaten the rights of all within our borders. The temporary injunction signifies that we have won only a battle; the lengthy and complex war will only be resolved when Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform legislation.