Thread: Supreme Court to hear Arizona immigration case April 25

Supreme Court to hear Arizona immigration case April 25

by Michael Kiefer - Feb. 3, 2012 12:40 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

The United States Supreme Court on Friday set an April 25 date for oral argument on Arizona's immigration law, Senate Bill 1070.

The high court announced in December that it would hear the case, but did not set a date.

The U.S. Department of Justice challenged the law before it went into effect in 2010, and a U.S. District Court judge in Phoenix imposed an injunction preventing several portions of the law from going into effect. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, and Gov. Jan Brewer petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court.

SB 1070 states that the intent of the law is attrition through enforcement, to deter the unlawful entry and presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton's injunction stopped four parts of the law:

The portion that requires an officer to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion that person is in the country illegally. This portion also requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of people arrested and hold them indefinitely until the status is determined.

The portion that creates a crime of failure to apply for or carry "alien-registration papers."

The portion that allows for a warrantless arrest of a person in which there is probable cause to believe the individual committed a public offense that makes him or her removable from the U.S.

The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work.

Whatever opinion the court issues will likely affect immigration laws in other states as well.

Supreme Court to hear Arizona immigration case April 25