Appeals court to mull states' role in immigration, ruling may take weeks

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Court of appeals will rule on four points of immigration law

Posted: 10/30/2010
Last Updated: 34 minutes ago
By: Rudabeh Shahbazi
By: ABC15.com staff, wire reports

PHOENIX - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to take a couple weeks to decide whether to uphold or overturn US District Judge Susan Bolton's decision to block the main sections of Arizona's new immigration law.

The appeals court held an hour-long hearing Monday morning in San Francisco.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer attended the hearing, which began with tough questioning of her lawyers over previous appellate ruling that rejected state regulation of illegal immigration.

Brewer said if the court upholds Bolton's decision, she plans to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Monday's hearing focused on four provisions of SB 1070 about immigration in Arizona.

The court can decide to uphold some, all, or none of them.

ABC15's Rudabeh Shahbazi was in the courtroom in California. You can follow her on Twitter.

She tweeted opening arguments from Arizona, including, "AZ has burden of federal government's failure to enforce rule of law. Administration won't enforce what Congress has made law."

"AZ: If you can't determine within reasonable time what status is, you have to turn them loose," she tweeted.

Opening arguments from the federal government included, "'Reasonable suspicion' purposely low standard whose application depends on individual judgement of officers in the field," according to Shahbazi's tweet.

ABC15's crew in front of the courthouse said about 200 protestors blocked a nearby intersection, and a couple dozen supporters of SB 1070 were outside as well.

The sections of SB1070 that Bolton said were unconstitutional include:

-Requiring law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of anyone they are investigating for another crime if there is reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.

-Requiring immigrants to carry documentation at all times and making it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work.

Brewer and the State of Arizona appealed Bolton’s ruling and now three judges will decide if she made the right decision to enjoin the major parts of SB1070.

Though the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is widely considered the most liberal in the country, the panel of judges are varied in their backgrounds.

Two were appointed by Republican presidents. Two are Hispanic. One is considered liberal, one conservative and one moderate.

Judge Carlos Bea is the newest on the job, appointed by President George W. Bush. He was nearly deported as a college student when he made a mistake while applying for a student visa and was accused of trying to avoid the draft. Bea emigrated from Spain to Cuba, before settling in California. He is considered to be on the conservative side.

Judge Richard Paez is a former legal aid lawyer and district court judge. He was appointed by President Clinton, and is considered to be on the liberal side.

Judge John Noonan was appointed by President Reagan and is considered moderate. He is known to be friendly to immigrants in asylum cases. Noonan is a former professor at UC Berkeley and Notre Dame.

Stay with ABC15.com for live coverage throughout the day.

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