The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will take up a key case concerning Arizona’s controversial immigration reform law, a move that could prove decisive as a number of states consider similar measures.
Among other provisions intended to drive undocumented immigrants from the state, the 2010 Arizona measure, known as SB 1070, requires police to arrest people they stop whom they suspect of being foreigners without authorization to reside in the U.S. The Department of Justice and the Obama administration have pushed to block much of the Arizona measure from taking effect, a move that has, for the time, stalled the measure from taking full effect.
Meanwhile, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and other states say the federal government is not doing enough to address immigration and that states on the border with Mexico, including Arizona, are suffering disproportionately.
Ms. Brewer requested the hearing after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld an earlier decision to halt several key parts of the law from going into effect in 2010. Bolton ruled that immigration is the bailiwick of the federal government, not individual states. The 9th Circuit ruling was a 2 to 1 decision.
Writing on Facebook, Ms. Brewer praised the Supreme Court for deciding to hear the case, saying she is “confident the High Court will uphold Arizona’s constitutional authority and obligation to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens.”
“This case is not just about Arizona,” her Facebook post added. “It’s about every state grappling with the costs of illegal immigration, and its about the fundamental principle of federalism, under which these states have a right to defend their people.”
The Arizona Republican also used the occasion to reiterate her state’s disappointment with the Obama administration’s decision to challenge the state’s immigration reform law.
“Decades of federal inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation and states deserve clarity from the court in terms of what role they have in fighting illegal immigration,” Ms. Brewer wrote.
It remains unclear how the nation’s highest court will rule on the measure. The Supreme Court remains bitterly divided on a number of key issues, issuing rulings that often seem dependent of the decisions of one or two justices.
The court now has three politically charged cases on its election-year calendar. The other two are Obama’s health care overhaul and new electoral maps for Texas’ legislature and congressional delegation.
