The Courts Decision on Arizona Immigration Laws | Law Firms ...

The United States has always been a place characterized by immigration. In reality, the nation was founded by a people who were immigrants to the land. All throughout its history, people from all over the world have sought to immigrate to America. Recently though, immigration has become a hot topic of debate around the nation. Like all countries, the United States has a series of laws that dictate what legal immigration is and how immigrants can settle in the country. Whether applying for a visa or applying for citizenship, immigrants must follow the protocol laid out by the United States? laws. The problem comes, however, when immigration is done illegally. The question, then, that is the source of so much turmoil is what to do about illegal immigration and what should be done with those who have already immigrated illegally?
This debate has essentially split the country down the middle, with a great deal of arguments and rationality on both sides of the equation. One of the areas of the country that has experienced the greatest amount of problems from the immigration issue is Arizona. In fact, according to the federal government Arizona has one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in America. In Maricopa County alone, it is estimated that illegal immigrants make up 10 percent of the adult population. Recently the state has begun to implement new laws in an attempt to deal with the growing problem. These new provisions seem to be working as the federal government estimated that the illegal immigration population did indeed drop approximately 18 percent from 2008 to 2009. This new law called SB 1070 is approved of by 70 percent of Arizona?s population and only 23 percent are actually opposed to it.
Essentially what the SB 1070 law does is to adopt federal immigration policy as the state?s immigration policy. This makes the federal crime of violating immigration law a state crime as well. This enables the state to actually enforce the federal law with its local law enforcement agencies. Local police are allowed to inquire after immigration status only through the normal course of lawful contact, such as a traffic violation or if they have committed a crime. The law states that such inquiry must only be done based on a reasonable suspicion of illegal immigration status. Such reasonable suspicion can include if the individual does not have a drivers? license or some form of state issued identification, as Arizona does not give identification to illegal immigrants.
Recently this law has been challenged by the Obama administration and two key statutes of the law were blocked. The administration argues that the law exceeds state authority on immigration. Also, it says that immigration laws should be purely federal and that such regulation should be done under a united governmental front. The law has also been accused of merely being a racial profiling bill. However, the Arizona law specifically states that local law enforcement are not allowed to implement the law based solely on race, color, or nationality. In order for a police officer to put SB 1070 into action, there must be a reasonable suspicion.
The Supreme Court has subsequently been brought into the situation. In late April of 2012, the Supreme Court indicated that it may uphold those statutes that have been blocked, specifically the provision that mandates police officers to check immigration status. The justices agree that Arizona has a serious immigration problem as it sees one third of the nation?s illegal border crossings. An official ruling is expected sometime during the summer. Arizona is confident of its chances to get the bill approved. Other states, such as South Carolina and Alabama have already followed Arizona?s example and developed immigration laws of their own. The Supreme Court?s decision on the matter could be a major turning point in the relationship between the states and the federal government.

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