Democrats to intercept Supreme Court ruling on immigration
Democrats to intercept Supreme Court ruling on immigration
Schumer says law doesn’t belong to 50 different states
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
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Former Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, the architect of Arizona's controversial immigration law S.B. 1070, left, accompanied by former Arizona Sen. Dennis DeConcini, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 24, 2012, before the Senate Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee hearing titled "Examining the Constitutionality and Prudence of State and Local Governments Enforcing Immigration Law." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday over Arizona’s immigration-crackdown law, but Democrats are already preparing for a potential loss by saying they’ll try to pass legislation stripping states of the power to enact their own immigration rules.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said his legislation would establish federal primacy in immigration by blocking states from taking any action. That would not only preclude state law enforcement efforts like the Arizona model now before the court, but also would overturn a Supreme Court ruling last year that upheld a different Arizona law requiring businesses to verify their workers’ legal status.
“I believe it is simply too damaging to our economy and too dangerous to our democracy to have 50 states doing 50 different things with regard to immigration policy,” said Mr. Schumer, chairman of the SenateJudiciary Committee’s immigration subcommittee, as he convened a hearing on Arizona’s crackdown law, known as S.B. 1070.
Under that law, which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed in 2010, police are required to check the legal status of those who they reasonably suspect are in the country illegally. The law also requires legal immigrants to carry their papers with them at all times when in the state.
The Obama administration has sued to block the law, arguing that it interferes with the federal government’s right to set immigration policy.
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* FILE ** Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. (Associated Press) ** FILE ** Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. (Associated Press)
Courts at both the district and appellate levels agreed with the Obama administration, and the justices announced late last year that they would take the case.
Last year, the justices upheld a 2007 Arizona law requiring all businesses to use E-Verify, the federal government’s electronic system that checks Social Security numbers, to make sure workers are in the country legally. The system is voluntary for most at the federal level, but several states, led by Arizona, have required it for businesses.
In a 5-3 ruling, the court said Congress specifically allowed for states to have a role in licensing businesses based on their compliance with immigration checks.
But Wednesday’s case is more complex.
Backers of S.B. 1070 said it just tries to give local police a hand in enforcing what the federal government already says is illegal.
“It’s modeled after federal law,” former Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, chief sponsor of both S.B. 1070 and the E-Verify law, told Mr. Schumer at his hearing Tuesday.
Mr. Pearce said the need for such restrictions was underscored by the fact that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers had contact with police ahead of their attacks but were never questioned about their immigration status, which he said could have led to their detainment.
Mr. Schumer and the Obama administration say S.B. 1070 goes beyond mirroring federal law to instead try to set a state immigration policy — an area where Congress has claimed exclusive jurisdiction.
If the court ends up siding with Arizona, Mr. Schumer said, he will introduce a bill to make it clear that Congress doesn’t want states acting on any level of immigration enforcement.
“States like Arizona and Alabama will no longer be able to get away with saying they’re ‘simply helping the federal government,’ quote, unquote, to enforce the law when they are really writing their own laws and knowingly deploying untrained officers with the mission of arresting anyone and everyone who might fit the preconceived profile of an illegal immigrant,” he said.
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Democrats to intercept Supreme Court ruling on immigration - Washington Times
