Thread: Arizona governor asks judge to dismiss challenge to Arizona'

Arizona governor asks judge to dismiss challenge to Arizona's immigration law


JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press
First Posted: November 14, 2011 - 5:49 pm
Last Updated: November 14, 2011 - 5:49 pm



PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer urged a federal judge to throw out one of the three remaining legal challenges to Arizona's immigration enforcement law, arguing the state's attempt to fix its border problems isn't trumped by federal law.

The governor's lawyers said in a court filing Friday that the group that filed the lawsuit in question was offering speculation about the law's effects and implications.

The lawsuit by the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, alleges that Arizona's law should be invalidated because it's superseded by federal immigration law and the state can't enact statutes to control the flow of immigrants.

A federal judge has already put the law's most controversial elements on hold, but the 2010 lawsuit by LULAC seeks to invalidate other sections that took effect, such as a ban on blocking traffic when people seek or offer day-labor services on streets.

The governor's response to the lawsuit came as the U.S. Supreme Court is mulling whether to hear her appeal of a July 2010 decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton that halted enforcement of elements of the law. The Supreme Court hasn't yet said whether it would accept Brewer's appeal.

The blocked portions include a requirement that police, while enforcing other laws, question people's immigration status if officers suspect they are in the country illegally.

The sections that were allowed to take effect and that are being challenged by LULAC include an addition to Arizona's 6-year-old ban on immigrant smuggling that allows drivers to be pulled over if officers have reasonable suspicion they have broken traffic laws.

Four of the seven challenges to Arizona's immigration law have been dismissed.

No trial dates have been set for the three remaining lawsuits, which the governor is seeking to dismiss.

Brewer had filed a counter-lawsuit in one case. She accused the Obama administration of failing to enforce immigration laws or maintaining control of her state's border with Mexico. Bolton threw out Brewer's claims against the federal government last month.

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