WASHINGTON — Opponents of Arizona’s anti-immigration law won a major victory on Wednesday as a federal judge blocked the most controversial elements of the legislation just hours before they were slated to take effect.
A federal court judge in Phoenix granted the Obama administration’s request for an injunction on grounds that immigration law is the federal government’s responsibility, and Arizona overstepped its bounds when it passed the legislation three months ago.
Under Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling, Arizona police are no longer required to determine the immigration status of people detained or arrested for other crimes.
“Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked,” Bolton said in her decision.
That section of the law, in particular, had fuelled a fierce nationwide debate about illegal immigration in the United States. Those on the left of the political spectrum, including President Barack Obama, said it amounted to racial profiling and could lead to civil rights violations. Those on the right argued citizens had nothing to fear if they were in the U.S. legally.
Immigration advocates were delighted by Bolton’s ruling.
“It means justice will truly prevail,” said Lydia Guzman, president of Somos America.
Republican Gov. Jan Brewer has long insisted that Arizona was forced to act because the federal government had dragged its feet on immigration reform despite a deadly drug war that’s been raging on the Arizona-Mexico border.
Obama has since ordered Congress to get to work on an immigration reform package as public opinion polls consistently show most Americans supported Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Nonetheless, even after Bolton agreed to the injunction, thousands of protesters — including the American-born children of illegal immigrants — marched in the streets across the country to protest the law, which was slated to take force on Thursday.
One outspoken Arizona lawman, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, vowed to jail any protesters who caused trouble in Phoenix.
Maricopa County has deported more than 26,000 illegal immigrants since 2007 through a federal-local partnership, representing about 25 per cent of total number of deportations nationally — and that was without the controversial legislation that broadened the power of law enforcement officials in weeding out illegals.
The Arizona law was aimed at driving many more thousands of illegal immigrants — about 500,000, all told — out of Arizona, to stem the flow of Mexican immigrants flooding across the Mexico-Arizona border and to cut down on drug trafficking and crime along the boundary.
Bolton’s ruling came just four days before 1,200 National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive at the border to assist federal and local police. Obama has deployed the National Guard as part of the administration’s response to the flood of illegal immigrants and the escalation of crime along the border.
Arizona, in fact, wanted the federal government to send in the National Guard months ago. When it declined, state legislators introduced and passed the immigration law, sparking economic and tourism boycotts and howls of protest from civil libertarians.
Now that Bolton has granted the injunction, lawyers for Brewer are expected to appeal, meaning the case will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It’s a temporary bump in the road, we will move forward, and I’m sure that after consultation with our counsel we will appeal,” Brewer told The Associated Press.
“The bottom line is we’ve known all along that it is the responsibility of the feds, and they haven’t done their job, so we were going to help them do that.”