Immigration Law Questioned By People Of Arizona

07 Jul 2010

Arizona’s law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and allows police to question the residency status of people in the course of enforcing another law. It also targets businesses that hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them.

This has resulted in one of the most explosive issues in American politics, filing a lawsuit to overturn a tough new Arizona immigration law. It also asked the federal courts to grant an injunction to stop enforcement of the measure before it takes effect late this month.

However, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said, “It was wrong that our own federal government is suing the people of Arizona for helping to enforce federal immigration law.”

President Barack Obama said in a speech July 1 that the Arizona measure has "fanned the flames of an already contentious debate." Among other things, it puts pressure on police officers to enforce rules that are "unenforceable" while making communities less safe -- in part, by making people more reluctant to report crimes, he said.

The government's brief said the U.S. Constitution and federal law "do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country."

"Although a state may adopt regulations that have an indirect or incidental effect on aliens, a state may not establish its own immigration policy or enforce state laws in a manner that interferes with federal immigration law," the brief said. "The State of Arizona has crossed this constitutional line."

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona, released a statement calling the lawsuit a "sideshow."

"A court battle between the federal government and Arizona will not move us closer to securing the border or fixing America's broken immigration system," she said.

According to a survey, nearly nine out of 10 Americans want to increase U.S. law enforcement along the border with Mexico. The poll also indicated that public support for beefing up security along the U.S. border with Mexico has grown significantly.