Federal government sues Arizona over immigration law

23 days before Arizona’s controversial immigration law (S.B. 1070) was scheduled to take effect, the Dept. of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court in Phoenix to prevent its enforcement. The law gives law enforcement officials the power to question the immigration status of a person where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully in the U.S.

The Department said S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy, explaining that “the Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.” The Justice Dept. claims a patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. Having enacted its own immigration policy that conflicts with federal immigration law, Arizona “crossed a constitutional line.”

The department’s brief said that S.B. 1070 will place significant burdens on federal agencies, diverting their resources away from high-priority targets, such as aliens implicated in terrorism, drug smuggling, and gang activity, and those with criminal records. The law’s mandates on Arizona law enforcement will also result in the harassment and detention of foreign visitors and legal immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens, who cannot readily prove their lawful status.