San Francisco (Obama.net)- The new immigration law in Arizona that is set to go into effect on July 29th would allow police officers to check the citizenship and immigration status of any and all people they deem as suspicious enough to check. The new bill has caused a stir throughout the United States of America and President Barack Obama and his Administration have taken notice.
On Tuesday, President Obama and his administration took their displeasure with the new measure to the courts. The Obama Administration filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona to destroy the immigration law, or at the very least keep it from going into effect until a later date.
Led by Eric Holder, the Attorney General, the United States government is taking a strong stance against the new measure. According to Holder, “setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility,” and that “seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves.”
The bill has also been called unconstitutional in the paperwork of the lawsuit. With the ability for Judicial Review to overturn the law due to being unconstitutional, the judge in the case may be able to kill the bill in one swift blow.
Arizona officials and Governor Jan Brewer has tried to defend her actions. She claims she is doing all that she has done is order to protect her state and the people in it against the threats of “violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels.”
The biggest fear brought on by the bill is the high potential of racial profiling. It is clear even in Brewer’s explanation of her bill that she is targeting Mexican’s more than any of the other immigrants in the United States of America.
Judge Susan Barton is currently scheduled to hear the case in a Federal Court in Phoenix, Arizona. The expected length of the case will potentially delay any official decision on immigration reform until far past the elections that will take place in November.
While a tough legal battle is sure to take place and lead to a long, drawn out legal process, the Obama Administration has the powers of the Constitution on their side. In addition to the judges having the power of Judicial Review, the United States government has the power of the Supremacy Clause where the Constitution and the laws set out by the federal government are in fact “the Supreme Law of the Land,” and thus any state laws would be seen as inferior to a national law.
Only time will tell what the outcome will be in this historical case. But one thing is for sure, President Barack Obama will press hard to make sure that the citizens of Arizona and anyone who visits the state will not be subject to an immigration law that will put their dignity and safety at risk whenever a police officer sees fit.
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