USA / FILE: US high court upholds key part of controversial Arizona immigration law

Record ID: 590845

  • Title: USA / FILE: US high court upholds key part of controversial Arizona immigration law
  • Date: 26th June 2012
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JUNE 25, 2012) (REUTERS) SUPREME COURT BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 11th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Legal System
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKKCW4A1T5ML4DQQ0WSMNBTPL
  • Story Text: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a key part of the crackdown on illegal immigrants by the state of Arizona on Monday (June 25), rejecting the Obama administration's stance that only the U.S. government should enforce immigration laws in the United States.
    The nation's highest court, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, unanimously upheld the state law's most controversial aspect, requiring police officers to check the immigration status of people they stop. But in a split decision, the justices also ruled that the three other challenged provisions went too far in intruding on federal law, including one that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to work and another that requires them to carry their documents.
    "Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration ... but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law," Justice Kennedy wrote in a 25-page opinion.
    Regarding the controversial provision of the law they did uphold, Justice Kennedy said the mandatory nature of police checks did not interfere with the federal immigration scheme, and found unpersuasive the Obama administration's argument that this portion of the law must be pre-empted at this stage.
    Outside the courthouse, opponents of the Arizona law were disappointed about the decision to uphold the provision of the law related to police checks and said it created "racial profiling."
    "It basically is allowing law enforcement to go forward and racially profile poor people and people of color. We believe that this is a decision that does set back civil rights," said Marielena Hincapie, Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center.
    The decision touches upon a key issue for many voters. One advocate for immigrant rights said that there would be repercussions at the ballot box in November with many Latinos voting against lawmakers in support of restrictive immigration laws like that of Arizona.
    "The Supreme Court had their say today on the 'show me your papers' provision. On November the sixth, we will have the final word. We will, in fact say, this law is wrong, it will be overturned by the power of our votes and we will make sure that we have an immigrant system that will do justice to a country of immigrants," said Eliseo Medina with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
    Opinion polls show Hispanics, now equal to 16 percent of all Americans, overwhelmingly support U.S. President Obama, a Democrat.
    The decision in part was an election-year setback for President Barack Obama, a Democrat. It went to the heart of a fierce national debate between Democrats and Republicans over the 11.5 million illegal immigrants the U.S. government estimates to be in the country.
    Obama has vowed to push for comprehensive immigration legislation if re-elected on Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney opposed the administration's challenge to the law.
    Arizona, on the southwest border with Mexico, two years ago became the first of half a dozen U.S. states to adopt laws to drive illegal immigrants out. The high court's ruling cleared the way for other states to adopt similar laws.
    About 360,000 of the country's illegal immigrants, or 30 percent, reside in Arizona. Most of the state's nearly 2 million Latinos are in the United States legally.
    Obama this month announced an important change in federal immigration policy ahead of the election contest Romney, who has taken a tough stance against illegal immigration. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as children could be able to avoid deportation and get work permits under the policy change announced by Obama. Most illegal immigrants in the United States are Hispanics.
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