A federal judge released an injunction on Wednesday blocking Arizona from enforcing its new immigration law, or the SB1070, barely a day before it was supposed to be implemented.
This is in line with the Obama administration’s argument that the law would only cause the state to interfere with the enactment of immigration laws by the federal government.
US District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling, which will stop police officers in Arizona from accosting people and demanding immigration documents from them on suspicions that they are in the US illegally, was considered a win for civil rights group and the Obama administration and would be difficult to overturn for the time being.
The key provision of the SB1070 allows local police to demand for proof of legal residency when they stop people for other reasons, then suspect them of being in the country illegally. People detained must stay in custody until their status has been verified.
“The federal government has long rejected a system by which aliens’ papers are routinely demanded and checked,” said the judge, quoting Justice Department lawmen.
According to Bolton, allowing Arizona, or any other state, to carry out this law, would give legal residents without proper documentation “an unacceptable burden”.
There are many acceptable reasons why legal immigrants may not have their paperwork with them, which also puts them at risk for detainment until their status is verified, said Bolton. Legal immigrants might be applicants for political asylum or domestic violence victims seeking refuge. Also, it is possible they might simply not have their immigration papers with them when police stops them for minor offenses like traffic violations.
Bolton’s ruling also stops Arizona from enforcing criminal penalties for people who are found to be in the country illegally, specially those who are seeking employment. She argued that an earlier Arizona law followed federal laws and punished only employers who, with full knowledge, hire illegal immigrants.
