Az V. Us

Constitutional Law

12/18/15

Arizona v. United States

The federal government brought this lawsuit against the state of Arizona in order to challenge the constitutionality of Arizona’s anti-immigration law S.B. 1070. On July 6, 2010, the United States sought to stop the enforcement of S.B. 1070 in federal district court before the law could take effect. The district court did not enjoin the entire act, but it did enjoin four provisions. The court enjoined provisions that created a state-law crime for being unlawfully present in the United States, created a state-law crime for working or seeking work while not authorized to do so, required state and local officers to verify the citizenship or alien status of anyone who was lawfully arrested or detained, and authorized warrantless arrests of aliens believed to be removable from the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice won a key victory when U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton blocked the enforcement of the most controversial parts of AZ’s laws, just days before the law was to go in full affect. Arizona appealed the district court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

SB 1070 is the legislative name of the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” an immigration enforcement law enacted by the state of Arizona in April 2010.1   According to the statement of legislative intent, the law was designed to make “attrition through enforcement” the official policy of all state and local agencies in Arizona. Attrition through enforcement is a strategy promoted by individuals and organizations— including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)—who believe that aggressive enforcement of the immigration laws will make life so difficult for unauthorized immigrants that they will choose to “self‐ deport.” Following the passage of SB 1070, numerous other states—including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, and...