Arizonas SB 1070 Ruling decided today by U.S. Supreme Court
Texas Insider Report: DALLAS Texas Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-3 split decision on the Obama administrations challenge to Arizonas aggressive immigration law striking multiple provisions but
upholding the papers please provision a measure which a number of civil rights groups argue is nothing but racial profiling and may still hurt undocumented immigrants. And according to Texas State Representative Roberto R. Alonzo of Dallas that particular provision if the law which was a centerpiece of S.B. 1070 still needs some tweaking.
Mondays decision on papers please -- Section 2(B) in S.B. 1070 -- rested on the more technical issue of whether the law unconstitutionally invaded the federal governments exclusive prerogative to set immigration policy said Rep. Alonzo.
As I have said before many times immigration reform is such a complex and complicated issue it is best left at the hands of our federal government and law enforcement officials at that level of government not the local police said Rep. Alonzo.
The justices found that it was not clear whether Arizona was supplanting or supporting federal policy by requiring state law enforcement to demand immigration papers from anyone stopped detained or arrested in the state who officers reasonably suspect is in the country without
authorization.
Allowing local police to still ask for immigration status is such a difficult issue that it will create nothing but chaos and more problems than we already have to deal with. Local enforcement officials are hired primarily to deal with local issues and not deal with federal issues. And they are busy enough and overworked enough with local issues.
We certainly do not need to add another layer of federal bureaucracy red tape and complex job requirements that they do have the training knowledge or experience to deal with or address adequately. This would be unfair not only to the local police officers themselves but the individuals who would be unfairly targeted and racially profiled Alonzo said.
The provision that was upheld -- at least for now -- also commands police to check all arrestees immigration status with the federal government before they are released.
Additionally as I have consistently said in the past SB 1070 would set a bad precedent as it would open the doors for all 50 states to do the same and in essence allow state and local police to have inherent authority to enforce all immigration law. Can you imagine having fifty different immigration laws when all we need is just one at the federal level? Immigration law is and should fall under the jurisdiction of our federal
government not of our state and local governments.
Additionally fifty different jurisdictions making fifty different sets of rules regulating immigrants would fundamentally negate the federal governments interest in a coherent and unified foreign policy not to mention its interest in facilitating interstate commerce.
Permitting individual states counties and other local municipalities to do the same would exponentially increase the chaos concluded Rep. Alonzo.
