U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that individual states have the right to revoke the licenses businesses that know they are employing illegal aliens

Supremes torpedo Obama’s Arizona lawsuit on illegal aliens

- Jim Kouri
Thursday, May 26, 2011

In a definite setback for President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that individual states have the right to revoke the licenses businesses that know they are employing illegal aliens. The case is seen as a preview of another case involving Arizona and illegal aliens expected to go before the nation’s highest court.

The justices—in a 5-3 decision—upheld Arizona’s 2007 law, asserting that the state is well within its rights to enforce such an immigration law under a 1986 federal immigration reform measure that was passed during the Reagan Administration as part of a limited amnesty deal made with Democratic lawmakers.

This ruling—a disappointment for Obama in a week filled with disappointments—comes amid Department of Justice lawsuit against another Arizona law that took effect last July and which makes it a crime to be in the state, which borders Mexico, without proper immigration papers.

“While Obama is backtracking from one miscalculation after another, this ruling may provide other U.S. states the legal means to pass laws to protect their residents from adverse effects of illegal immigration,â€