So, it has begun, the lawsuits regarding the constitionality of the Arizona law, SB1070.  As reported by CNN:

Washington (CNN) — The Justice Department weighed in on one of the most explosive issues in American politics Tuesday, filing a lawsuit to overturn a tough new Arizona immigration law that has sharply divided people along partisan, ideological and ethnic lines.

 

It also asked the federal courts to grant an injunction to stop enforcement of the measure before it takes effect late this month.

Arizona’s law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and allows police to question the residency status of people in the course of enforcing another law. It also targets businesses that hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them.

Justice Department lawyers argued in its brief that the state statute should be declared invalid because it has improperly preempted federal law.

“A state may not establish its own immigration policy or enforce state laws in a manner that interferes with the federal immigration laws,” the brief states. “The Constitution and the federal immigration laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.”

The Arizona law “disrupts federal enforcement priorities and resources that focus on aliens who pose a threat to national security or public safety. … If allowed to go into effect, [the law’s] mandatory enforcement scheme will conflict with and undermine the federal government’s careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives.”

Arizona is interested only in “attrition” in order to end illegal entries and has not addressed several other federal obligations to deal with immigrants, including removal proceedings, humanitarian concerns and foreign relations, the brief contends.

President Barack Obama said in a speech July 1 that the measure has “fanned the flames of an already contentious debate.” Among other things, it puts pressure on police officers to enforce rules that are “unenforceable” while making communities less safe — in part, by making people more reluctant to report crimes, he said.

82 Thoughts to “Feds File Suit Against Arizona”

  1. Rick Bentley

    “Also Rick, MOST working undocumented immigrants pay into social security and medicare yet will NEVER see those contributions as they are under pretend SSN’s. ”

    A. They still take out more from us than they put in.
    B. If we make them citizens (give them Amnesty) they’ll take much more out of the system.

    Guest worker program? Okay with me. Citizenship just so some building owner can hire janitors cheaper and diminish wages? Not okay.

    “How about those DREAM act kids who are in college, trying to become truly productive members of society.”

    We’ve discussed this over and over. If they aren’t citizens, they shouldn’t be here. If they are, they just have to declate emancipation from their parents, as so many American kids also have to do to become eligible for financial aid.

  2. hello

    “yet will NEVER see those contributions as they are under pretend SSN’s.” – pretend SSN’s? Are you kidding me!?! How about all of the stolen SSN’s that are used screwing up a person or family’s credit and having to go thru years, money and effort to get not only their credit fixed but the IRS off of the back for unpaid taxes? I love how when people talk about illegal immigrants working in this country it’s a victimless crime. Shoot, according to Elena the only victim is the illegal immigrant.

    Forget all about the man/woman who had their SSN stolen and used by an illegal immigrant to work and then had their credit screwed up or couldn’t get a job because someone else was already working at the place with their SSN. Forget about an 18 year old who can’t get a student load because someone has been using their SSN for years. Nah, the illegal immigrant is the victim because they don’t see the benefits from them paying into social security, give me a break.

  3. marinm

    hello, I agree with your point. Use of an SSN by an illegal victimizes the person associated to that number. An illegal could file for an ITIN which would allow the illegal to pay his legally obligated share of taxes without (identity theft) impact to a citizen.

  4. Rick Bentley

    The use of SSNs by illegal immigrants is one more way in which our government actively, consciously fails to protect American citizens. The problem is deliberately left unaddressed because law enforcement, protection of citizens would upset the delicate political balance on illegal immigration.

  5. PWC Taxpayer :

    The only groups that are using immigration for election advantage are the Democrats and other liberals who are appeasing the Latino community for its votes. Otherwise, it is about law enforcement, national sovereignty, wage degradation, the transfer of wealth and big government.

    You are kidding, right? Please tell me you are kidding.

    Listen to the video where Hethman admits FAIR came to PWC because of Republican election difficulties.

  6. hello

    “Listen to the video where Hethman admits FAIR came to PWC because of Republican election difficulties.”

    Ah, so a lobby group came to PWC for an election… OMG!!! HOLD THE PRESS, huge story there!!! This is a first in politics!

  7. hello

    Wow, a group coming to a locality for an election, great find. In the spirit of watching soooo much of the Disney channel because of son I think you should write an episode of ‘My Friends Winnie and Poo’ as a case for the Super Sleuths! 🙂

  8. hello

    Or, better yet, get special agent OSO and his paw pilot on the case. Maybe Handy Manny could help out also. Oh wait, he might be racially discriminated against…

  9. Hello, FAIR is a bit more than a lobby group. It is a membership organization.

    From their website:

    The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation’s immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest.

    FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest—more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.

    With more than 250,000 members and supporters nationwide, FAIR is a non-partisan group whose membership runs the gamut from liberal to conservative.Our grassroots networks help concerned citizens use their voices to speak up for effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America’s best interests.

    You might want to check with SPLC to see if they are still on the hate group watch list.

    Then you can cheer and yip it up over a hate group coming to town.

  10. hello

    Yeah, the SPLC says their a ‘hate group’…. hmmm. No thanks, I think Ill cheer and yip it up anyway. Thanks but no thanks Moon, I don’t put much weight into ANYTHING the SPLC says.

    I for one and glad FAIR came to PWC or else it would have just been business as usual around here as far as illegal immigration goes. You may (or may not be, I don’t know) be isolated from what happens when you have a huge illegal immigant population living around you but I’m not. I live in Woodbridge off of rt 1. There have been murders within walking distance of my house (behind known day labor sites) and there is gang graffiti everywhere. I’ve got a 1 year old now and desperately want to get the F**K out of here for my family’s sake but I can’t. The market sucks and I would never be able to sell my house with the sh*t going on around me! So, hold your ‘hate group’ talk for someone else. Why not label illegal immigrants as hate groups, what about the 18th street gang, what about MS-13 (which are comprised of 80% of illegal immigrants according to police reports). To me their the biggest threat to me and my family’s LIVES, not well being or pursuit of happiness, our LIVES.

    Do you comprehend that at all? When my son gets older I can never let him walk down the street to 7-11, I never let me wife got anywhere in the neighborhood without me. We can’t talk walks at night. It’s like living in a war zone where your a prisoner in your own home. So, if you would like, move into the hood next to me and then talk to me about ‘hate groups’.

  11. Hello,

    I once lived in a neighborhood that had turned into a slum. I had to sell and get out. I couldn’t point a finger and use any ‘illegal’ talk to express my rage at what had become of my investment. I ended up renting a house for my family and I rented my own house out until I could find an investor. It took a couple of years. But that’s what you have to do. It is very frustrating when low class people flood your neighborhood. Been there, done that.

    My current home is in a area that was impacted by immigration. There were many areas that were in far worse shape than my street. But it was impacted, nevertheless. I also lost half the value in my home or more. I live next door to a boarding house but they don’t really bother me. It does make me uncomfortable not knowing who my neighbors are. I feel confident not all of the renters in that house are illegal immigrants.

    There is no more street crowding at that house than there is at several houses that are in sight that are owned by white families. Unfortunately, I think the house is in foreclosure.

    Do I comprehend it all? You really are kidding me aren’t you. I probably got to experience slum-dom before you were born.

  12. Rick Bentley

    FAIR as a hate group – come on. Just because some sham organization called it one … give me a break. This is the saddest of all the sad chestnuts trotted out here by the … well I’ve been asked not to say illegal alien apologist anymore.

  13. Rick Bentley

    The SPLC says:” All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics. … Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing. … Listing here does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity”.

    Arguably these qualify as hate groups, by the same logic that FAIR does :

    The Catholic Church
    The Protestant branches of Christianity
    Islam, Judaism, etc.
    The Democratic Party (who repeatedly seek to attack and malign conservatives)
    The Republican Party
    The Boy Scouts
    The Tea Party
    The Hogs (i.e. rabid Redskins fans)
    etc. etc.

  14. SPLC has been around since 1971. ADL has been around since 1910. Neither groups are fly by night. Their prime targets are Nazi groups, white supremacists, KKK and other repugnant organizations. I guess it all depends on where your tolderance level is.

    And yes, there are arguments for some of those organizations listed….I prefer not to go there though.

    I haven’t thought of a word to replace you know what. My problem is, this isn’t a binary problem. How about just saying ‘those who disagree?’ The deal I will cut is to attempt to say ‘anti-illegal immigrant’?

  15. Rick Bentley

    Well, I think apologist is the correct word. Literally willing to make excuses for criminal behavior.

  16. Rick Bentley

    A few ideas :

    “pro-illegal”

    “anti-deportation”

    “immigration wimps”

    “racism watchdogs”

    “the give them Amnesty first, count how many later crowd”

    or, in a nod to the black board, “anarchist Zapatistas”.

  17. Rick, nahhhhh doesnt fit a lot of people. Remember, people are all over the place with this one.

    It will all work out. Maybe AZ will secede.

  18. Emma

    @George S. Harris Yeah, George, that’s exactly what I meant. I guess I just didn’t realize it.

    There isn’t a whole lot of “sizzle” left to charges of “racism,” “profiling” and “ethnic cleansing,” George. I’ve noticed I’m becoming progressively deaf to those words when they are thrown out randomly by people such as yourself in order to score debate points. You know what they say about people who cry “wolf” one too many times, don’t you?

  19. Emma

    There are at least 17 other states considering laws similar to AZ’s. What then? Will the federal government file suit against all of them? Declare war against them?

  20. They will secede.

    Why can’t they do what Prince William County did with the 287g program?

    I don’t know…I think of all those states who attempted to defy federal orders to desegregate the schools. They talked big but they did not win.

    There are many similarities.

  21. All of this hullabaloo about Arizona’s copy and paste of federal law is nothing more than Obama using it as a distraction. The police do not need probable cause to ask for immigration status.

    Rhode Island already asks about immigrant status on all stops where they have reasonable suspicion that someone is an illegal alien. And the Supreme Court has back up both the procedure and the executive order telling them to do so. From the Corner:

    http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjkzMmNjMjIxMjIxYWNmODA0OGI3ZTU5MmIyZGUyMjg=

    and Legal Insurrection

    http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/07/hey-rhode-island-already-checks.html

    Apparently the Arizona Governor missed this fact. Too bad. Would have saved alot of trouble.

    From what I just read the 287G program (http://www.ice.gov/partners/287g/Section287_g.htm) does this:

    The cross-designation between ICE and state and local patrol officers, detectives, investigators and correctional officers working in conjunction with ICE allows these local and state officers: necessary resources and latitude to pursue investigations relating to violent crimes, human smuggling, gang/organized crime activity, sexual-related offenses, narcotics smuggling and money laundering; and increased resources and support in more remote geographical locations.

    However, the Memorandum of Agreement puts any such officers under the authority of ICE:

    The MOA defines the scope and limitations of the authority to be designated. It also establishes the supervisory structure for the officers working under the cross-designation and prescribes the agreed upon complaint process governing officer conduct during the life of the MOA. Under the statute, ICE will supervise all cross-designated officers when they exercise their immigration authorities. The agreement must be signed by the ICE Assistant Secretary, and the governor, a senior political entity, or the head of the local agency before trained local officers are authorized to enforce immigration law.

    Sounds like a lot of red tape. Is a 287g trained officer removed from the street and tasked only to this or is this supplemental training? And if he does utilize it while patrolling, does he now have to report to a different chain of command?

    You asked why AZ doesn’t use the program……..Arizona ALREADY IS INVOLVED.

    AZ Department of Corrections
    AZ Department of Public Safety
    City of Phoenix Police Department
    Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
    Pima County Sheriff’s Office
    Pinal County Sheriff’s Office
    Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office

    The site credits the program for identifying 70,000 (since January 2006) individuals, mostly in jails, who are suspected of being in the country illegally.
    840 officers trained.

    This does not sound like a very efficient program. This sounds like the typical heavy handed top down, microcontrol by the feds. 70K SUSPECTED individuals. In 4 years! Training has to be a four week course in S. Carolina. Why? What can be taught in S. Carolina that can’t be taught in the city where the cops are? Its easier to move one instructor than multiple cops. Apparently the program isn’t very popular.

    Has anyone heard why no other county in Va is involved other than these? I know that Richmond could truly use this as could Henrico County.

    City of Manassas Police Department
    Herndon Police Department
    Manassas Park Police Department
    Prince William County Police Department
    Prince William County Sheriff’s Office
    Prince William-Manassas Adult Detention Center
    Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office
    Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office

    Now this is just what I got off of the ICE.gov site. I interpret this as a lot of red tape, etc. Has anyone heard what the critiques of the program are?

    I think the Rhode Island approach is much more efficient.

  22. Aha! From the FAQ page:

    What Role Does ICE Play with 287(g)-Trained State and Local Officers?

    ICE will supervise the 287(g)-trained officers while conducting immigration enforcement activities.

    Can 287(g)-Trained Officers Determine Alienage of any Person Suspected of Being an Illegal Alien?

    The 287(g)-trained officers are focused on identifying and processing criminal aliens for removal, and investigating criminal immigration violations.

    This is why AZ and Rhode Island want to do it differently. They want to remove illegal aliens because they are illegal aliens while the 287g focuses on CRIMINAL immigration violations.

  23. Oh, and the SPLC jumped the shark years ago. When the KKK dried up, noone would donate, until the SPLC started attributing “hate” status to any right leaning group or site that the left would shout about.

    There are no left or islamist “hate” groups mentioned at the SPLC. Hmmmm…….

  24. yea they are….and I will find them tomorrow. I recall several black panther type groups being listed. There are also a couple environmental nasty groups or there used to be.

  25. ok so RI and AZ want to deport just because the person is an illegal alien rather than because that person has commited a crime. How does that fit in with probable cause? How can the person be detained without a crime having been committed?

    AZ wants to do its own thing and then it wants ICE to come pick up the detainee. That isn’t going to happen. AZ has already nixed the spirit of cooperation.

    If I were queen of AZ, I would be kissing some some serious federal ass in hopes of getting an army with real bullets on the border. The most critical thing that state can do is beef up the border security so that drug cartel violence doesn’t enter the country.

  26. Moon,

    AZ will check status for those stopped for probable cause for other crimes. RI just checks if there is reasonable suspicion if the stopped person is an illegal alien, even for traffic stops.

    My question to Gov. Brewer is why she hasn’t put her “army with real bullets” on the border. She can activate the Guard. Of course, then its on HER dime………

  27. @Moon-howler
    SPLC: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map

    The only islamic group is Nation of Islam.
    The only socialist group are the neo-nazis.
    The Jewish Defense League is listed as a hate group.

    From the SPLC: “Radical traditionalist” Catholics, who may make up the largest single group of serious anti-Semites in America,…”, ……….really? There’s a lot of radical Catholics preaching anti-semitism? Really?

    According to the SPLC, apparently CAIR doesn’t support hate groups, nor are radical muslims intolerant of other religions.

    ELF isn’t a terrorist group.

    La Raza and MECHA don’t exist. Of course, FAIR and VDARE are mentioned, though they do mention that FAIR did denounce VDARE.

    When you search Tea Party, he links it to militias, white supremacy, etc, and links them to conspiracy theorists. There is not discussion or even research about the actual movement.

    When La Raza and Mecha are searched, the replies only link to “anti-immigrant” groups. When New Black Panthers is searched, Aryan nations, and other race groups are the reply.

    If the “hate group” is supported by the Democratic party, the liberal side of politics, or the media, then it doesn’t exist.

    At one time the SPLC did good work, now its just another arm of the Democrats.

  28. I will defend the National Council of La Raza as not being a hate group any more than the NAACP is a hate group. http://www.nclr.org/

    La Raza, the term, has been hijacked by all sorts of people. That’s too bad.

    As for who all is listed with SPLC….I haven’t looked lately. I will check it out later today.

    FAIR’s founder is enough to make me raise an eyebrow.

    I keep hearing the complaint about lack of left leaning groups being listed as hate groups. Maybe there just aren’t as many groups. Who would you consider a leftist hate group? I am not sure fundamentalist/Jihadist Islamic groups would count. I would place those groups on the right but that’s just me. I am not sure why we have to place people with a little left or right tag. I am quite comfortable just using the AH deliniation.

  29. I’m not listing the Islamic groups as leftist, but left supported. The media can’t seem to denounce or even report any negative things when done by Muslims, and accepts all spin from CAIR spokesmen.

  30. I am trying to decide if I agree that Islamic groups are left supported or not. I know I used to get mad at Bush because he bent over backwards for many Islamic groups. I don’t know. I suppose it depends on which Islamic groups and who is supporting them. I am not sure that support goes along ideological lines.

  31. E.M.

    The final judgment will no doubt favor Arizona – and other States choosing to enforce existing federal legislation.

    It’s one thing to endeavor to draft new legislation beyond the purpose and scope of existing federal legislation but that’s not the case with 1070. The Arizona matter is about enforcement of existing laws– which have “already” been enacted under the supremacy powers of the United States Constitution.

    Since when does the President get to pick and choose which laws to enforce?

    WTF was he thinking?

    E.M.
    Arizona Resident
    ps

    It pisses me off knowing that my federal tax dollars are advancing a lawsuit my states tax dollars are defending… Arizona will win, and should then file a counter-suit and include the cities which passed legislation to harm our economy by boycott. They all deserve a foot in the ass.

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