As I expected, Clinton appointee Judge Sue Bolton issued a preliminary injunction today that will prevent several sections of Arizona's SB1070 from becoming law until the courts have a chance to hear the full case on several federal lawsuits.
The plaintiffs include the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union and two Hispanic police officers, one from Phoenix and one from Tucson.
Bolton denied legal arguments by attorneys for Governor Brewer, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and several other defendants to have the lawsuits dismissed because the plaintiffs could not prove that they would be harmed by the law if it went into effect.
Bolton's injunctions affect several important parts of the law.
• The portion of the law that requires an officer make an attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect they're illegal aliens.
• The portion that creates a crime for failure to apply for or carry alien-registration papers or other documents proving legal residency.
• The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work. This doesn't affect the section on day laborers.
• The portion that allows for an arrest of a person on probable cause when a law enforcement officer believes they may have committed a crime that makes them eligible for deportation from the United States. Illegal alien drug traffickers, the Zetas and MS-13 must have been high fiving themselves over that one.
Bolton's ruling says that law enforcement must still enforce federal immigration laws, which is odd since parts of SB 1070 she issued an injunction against mirror federal statutes.
The part of the law that makes a misdemeanor for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants still stands as well.
What mostly has changed, as Sheriff Joe Arpaiho pointed out is that Arizona will not be able to prosecute illegal aliens using state law. Now, Arpaio said, people apprehended as illegal aliens will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE)with a request that ICE take custody.
We could very well see a 'catch and release' scenario where Arizona law enforcement turns illegal aliens over to ICE and ICE either refuses to take custody or takes custody and simply releases them outright.
The legal battle will likely take a great deal of time, as the State of Arizona appeals this decision. it will likely go all the way to the Supreme Court before it's resolved.
Obviously, the Obama Administration hopes it can push amnestia through and legalize its new bloc of compliant voters before things get that far.
We'll see...
4 comments:
I don't see a problem for Mr. Obama to pass amnesty. If he wants to push it now, he can get it through the House, he can get it through the Senate, and then all he has to do is pick off just enough Republicans to defeat a filibuster. The Democrats have been able to get just about any thing they want passed in this manner.
They've also used a similar tactic to block any thing Republicans wanted to do. Republicans pass bill in the Hosue, pass it in the Senate, and then the Democrats pick off just enough Republicans to filibuster the bill.
In the unlike event that Republicans can gain control of the Hosue, the Senate, or even less likely both, it gets a little trickier for Mr. Obama but not much. In this case, amnesty enjoys broad support among the media and the monied elite who fund House and Senate campaigns and among those who lobby Congress. The supporters of amnesty can get the Democrats on board with this. Then pick off just enough Republicans to get it through the House and pick off just enough Republicans to defeat a filibuster.
Hello Rob. As I read the order, its more far reaching than you describe. States are essentially out of the business of inquiring into the status of one's legality - even for people already arrested. As I wrote several weeks ago, if the Court buys the preemption argument, we become a sanctuary country. The federal government has sole discretionary authority now to enforce laws regarding illegal aliens. States are now powerless. Welcome to the soon to be Balkanized States of Obamerica.
Hi GW,
The key words are 'if the Court buys the preemption argument.'
They may,but for reasons I describe here, they may have a very tough time justifying that.
We'll see what develops.
I would also think, as I mentioned, that the Court is going to have problems proving harm since the law hasn't even been enacted yet!
As I understand it, the plaintiffs would have to prove that the law actually resulted in actual harm in order to claim a 14th amendment equal protection argument.
The Obama DOJ suit doesn't even mention that aspect.
Again, we'll see.
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