Wednesday 28 July 2010

ARIZONIA IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATE

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38436995/ns/us_news-immigration_a_nation_divided?GT1=43001


The link above is an article (with msnbc video below written article) that concerns the recent decision of the controversial Arizona Immigration Law that was originally signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in April 2010. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has allowed for the illegal immigrant law to take effect as of Thursday 29th July 2010, but the Judge has put a block on key parts of the law that had caused protests and boycotts against the state.

The key parts of the law that have been blocked by Judge Bolton include:

  • law requiring immigrants to carry papers at all times
  • Arizona police officers to check a person(s) immigration status
  • Police to make unwarranted arrests for suspected illegal immigrants

The judge ruled that it is a violation of a person(s) liberty to have to be stopped as a suspected illegal immigrant especially with regard to those who are legal immigrants or who are in the process of legal residency and/or citizenship.

Judge Bolton also stated the controversial law would:

  • interfere with federal immigration law that the states are not allowed to do.
  • it would require for police to do more checks on people suspected of being in the state illegally that it would "overwhelm the federal system and divert attention away from criminals and suspected terrorist"
  • Would lead to detention for people who are here legally including U.S. citizens while their immigration status was checked.

Gov, Brewer has stated that the state will appeal the judge's decision, but legal experts believe that it may take months before the appeal is heard by the Supreme Court.

I agree with the decision by Judge Bolton, in that the law enacted by Arizona would lead to racial profiling, but on the other hand I blame the federal government for allowing for the law to have been enacted in the first place. Vice President Joe Biden had stated in an interview for msnbc that the Judge made the right decision in so far as there cannot be so many states enforcing different laws for immigration (Texas and Utah were also going to impose their own immigration law if the Arizona law was passed) but Arizona wouldn't have gone this far in making a law if the federal government had dealt with their plight in the first place. It is evident that the state has a huge influx of illegal immigrants entering the state on a daily basis and they weren't getting the protection from the federal government so they as a state took matters into their own hands. However they should have thought about the law in a way that it would be protecting its citizens including that of its Hispanic citizens which I felt it failed to do. Tony Judt's view that the "state will soon be the problem" is correct when looking at the immigration law because now the federal government has to make sure that future issues that arise with states are not ignored but dealt with by the federal government or else states will start taking matters into their own hands and this is evident with the Arizona immigration law.