Arizona judge puts crackdown on illegal immigration on hold

By Guy Adams in Phoenix, Arizona

Protestors pray outside the State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona after a judge blocked parts of a bill aimed at illegal immigration

EPA

Protestors pray outside the State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona after a judge blocked parts of a bill aimed at illegal immigration

A crackdown on illegal immigration in Arizona was thrown into a state of limbo yesterday, as a judge at the State Capitol in Phoenix put almost every one of its most controversial measures on hold, just 14 hours before they had been due to take effect.

The temporary injunction issued by Judge Susan Bolton shortly after 10am left supporters of the now-notorious Senate Bill 1070 facing a protracted legal battle to enact their proposed legislation, which has recently been at the centre of a heated national debate.

It prevents four of the most widely-criticised elements of the bill from taking effect, including a hugely contentious provision which would have required police across the state to stop, question, and possibly arrest anyone they "reasonably suspect" of having entered the US illegally.

Opponents had claimed in court that such a move would have led to the racial stereotyping of anyone who happens to have dark skin, since members of the Latino community make up the vast majority of the estimated 460,000 unlawful residents of Arizona, which shares several hundred miles of its southern border with Mexico.

They had also challenged passages in the bill which required immigrants to carry identification papers with them at all times, forced police to enquire about the immigration status of every single person they arrest, and made it legal to arrest a suspected illegal immigrant without a warrant.

In her temporary ruling, Judge Bolton said that it was likely that these elements of the Bill would represent an infringement of civil liberties. She also found that opponents of 1070 were "likely to succeed" in any trial where they argued that some of the new laws interfered with the right of the federal government (rather than individual states) to run immigration enforcement.

"Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked," Bolton said, in a key passage of the decision.

The judgement represents a huge victory for President Obama, whose administration had sued to stop 1070, and who hopes to enact wholesale immigration reform later this year. When news of it arrived, demonstrators interrupted morning Mass to cheer. Soon afterwards, DJs from a local Spanish-language radio station began playing mariachi music

"A huge hole has now been knocked out of this bill," said Daniel Pochoda, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, who had also sued to prevent 1070 being introduced. "It's only a preliminary injunction, and the case has a long way to run yet, but it's an important victory."

Just a handful of minor provisions in the controversial bill were unaffected by Judge Bolton's ruling, including one aimed at preventing people-smuggling, which makes it a crime to knowingly transport an illegal immigrant.

Supporters of the bill – which has the support of a slender majority of Americans and Arizonans – responded by promising to pursue an appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, if necessary.

"It's a temporary bump in the road, we will move forward and I'm sure that after consultation with our counsel we will appeal," Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer told Associated Press. "The bottom line is we've known all along that [immigration] is the responsibility of the feds and they haven't done their job so we were going to help them do that."

  • Writing in capital letters does not make your comments stronger, it only reveals your bigot intolerant views. Your rant sounds like the Nazis of the 1920's and 30's when they were trying to come to power by stirring up hatred and prejudice. If you checked your histroy you would know once in power the Nazi elite quickly silenced and repressed the extremist thugs they had used to come to power. The rabble were simply stooges that could be used and then discarded. The bankers and industrialist would accept the Nazi party, but insisted that they crush the "brownshirts" or rightwing loonies. The tea-baggers are being used by the very rich and powerful to destroy a democratic America. Once in power they will also step on you loonies like bugs. If you the government has too much power now, wait until you see what the people who are using you will be like. Wake up tea-baggers, you being had.
  • Ian
    The caps lock key is on the left hand side of your keyboard about half way down.
  • cardrew
    I live in a large Latin community, where many refugees/illegals arrive weekly so I have some idea of what is happening. Cars get stolen, schoolchildren are mugged for their cellphones/ipods, there are gangs, drug dealers in all shapes and sizes (African-American, Latin and Rednecks), so it no better in other states. You are in a rural area near the border so I can appreciate you have different local problem. The Arizona measure was introduced at this time for political gain, this is not a new problem, why did they not act during the 8 years of the Bush administration? The tea party extremists we encounter here are racist bigots, that do not accept Democracy, and want to disrupt the current administration. Look at antics of these jerks during the healthcare debate.
  • Brittanicus
    The illegal alien annexation is like "Ripley's believe it or not?" You either trust the US government who persistently voices lies or uses reverse psychology on the public. The ultra-wing of the Liberal press which has manifested itself as the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times or the incarnate Huffington Post and others that release a torrent of media verbal feces, which a lot of us are inclined to actually believe, as their own hypocrites do. Personally, I would boycott all anti-American rags, but I don?t live in those illegal alien ?Sanctuary Cities. ? More moderate Conservative (Not Republicans or Democrats tainted with Liberal philosophies) who takes the time to investigate the facts and not the "Politically Correct" spew that many of us have been indoctrinated with? To begin--how many foreign nationals have settled illegally in Arizona and America? For the last ten years the same figure has appeared in heavily oriented Liberal progressive newspapers of around 10 to 11 million? And if you have been programmed enough you give it credence, you will believe it? But that was a generation ago and despairing, penurious foreign nationals still keep on coming, yet some of us trust it as accurate? A more acceptable number is around 18 million and up, according to NumbersUSA. Web-site. There are US Border Patrol administrators who dare to speak-up as long as they remain anonymous, documented that out of ten illegal entrants that cross, only--ONE--is caught. The fact is that hundreds of thousands return, even after the judge has deported them incessantly; even after they have left by their own recognizance. THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD DEMAND THAT ILLEGAL ENTRY TO OUR COUNTRY BECOMES A FELONY, WITH FIRST OFFENSE CARRYING A TERM OF FIVE YEARS? The expenditure message of the Liberal newspapers and equally responsible the anti- American universities professors and places of learning, where, the roots of extremism in accumulated lies and rhetoric. The hard academic left has poisoned the moderate editorial ideology, to destroy the roots of our culture and history and interpretation of the US Constitution. The federal judge, whose decision on Arizona's policing law, is full of irregularities, as she didn't interpret the law on several points? As a Bill Clinton appointee Judge Bolton likely deliberated her rulings from the bench, not according to constitution? The same with the Radical Ninth District court in San Francisco which is a laughable Mickey Mouse court of Liberal perception. Eventually the law from Arizona will land in the Supreme Court of final jurisprudence. Always we hear that illegal immigration is a great gain for our economy, but the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released a negative picture of costs. That the illegal alien household expenditure on just the federal level costs, Hospital, education and incarceration, to the uninformed taxpayers is 113 Billion dollars annually, plus another $60 billion in money transfers to foreign countries in remittances for families left behind. Pro-sovereignty groups are under constant attack from the liberal shadow government, who has become a silent part of the open border syndicates, lobbyists and the Council of Foreign Relations. First thing that Americans must do is keep up a voice barrage on Democrats and Republicans for a-- PERMANENT E-VERIFY. This would have now been the law of the land, if Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) hadn't intervened in the Senate chamber. He should be the first removed from office, as he and cohorts of Liberal-Dems is a strong representative to force through another economic damaging Billion dollar--AMNESTY. Another Amnesty would give illegal alien workers. Access to our Social Security and devastate taxpayer?s pensions, especially to senior citizens who have worked all their lives. An agreement the Bush administration was reached with Mexico on Social Security benefits that would allow illegal aliens granted amnesty in the future to claim credit for the time they worked illegally. We must train the politicians already in Washington, that the Arizona law represents the American people?s defense, against 30 years of unequivocal failure to seal the border and deportation. That even now the fence not completed, and does not represent the original specifications of two fences stretched 1800 miles from the Pacific to Gulf of Mexico. Secretly--behind closed doors, the Democratic leadership in the 2006 Senate Omnibus Law Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, (R-TX) attacked a major provisions of a second independent 15 foot chain-link fence that was eliminated. With a militarize border carrying automatic weapons the Arizona's law would never have been signed by Governor Brewer? The gang slime and cesspool of criminals would never have materialized in such numbers in border cities, as double parallel fences policed by 6000 permanent federal troops and US Border patrol as Mexico does with Guatemala, would have stopped the carnage in the border region. What Obama hopes to do with unarmed military in small numbers sitting at desk, is amazingly stupid and misguided as any hopes of stopping the potential deaths is political suicide; a serious danger to National Security. Why defend foreign nations with soldiers and money, when our government for decades refuses to defend this country? The tea Party, Independents, rogue Democrats, Republicans and pro-sovereignty Liberals and millions of well-informed Americans see that this is a way to appease the corrupt authorities in Mexico. Every US patriotic citizen and legal resident must demand from their confused lawmakers at state and federal level in demanding E-Verify permanently. This will gradually remove illegal aliens by auditing workplaces (old and new workers--temporarily or permanent jobs) and bring to justice employers who are flouting the law and put them in prison. WE AS THE VOTERS OF AMERICA CAN DO THIS, RIDDING OURSELVES OF SENATORS LIKE REID, McCAIN, PELOSI, SCHUMER, GRAHAM, FEINSTEIN PUSHING FOR AMNESTY AND THE DREAM ACT. WHAT WE SHOULD DEMAND FROM THE LEGISLATORS IS IMMEDIATE REVITALIZATION OF THE ?SAVE ACT & CLEAR ACT.? ALL INCUMBENTS NEED TO JOIN THE JOBLESS. FIND FACTS AT NUMBERSUSA & GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AT JUDICIAL WATCH. Bombard the Washington switchboard at 202-224-3121
  • I might also mention that a large portion of the SOuthwest was PURCHASED not won from Mexico- read up on the Gadsden Purchase- then look at what was paid and see what today's value for be for the amount.
  • Cardrew and many others- I am not a racist, I come from a multirace family. I do however live in a rural area outside of the protection of town 2 miles from the Mexican border- the river is what divides us at this point and it is no barrier to a decent swimmer. Many of you writing in have no idea of what living here is like. Don't say "well just move" My husband has a job here. I go across the border often BUT I mind my P's & Q's bigtime because the local police can be pretty threatening to us. Also oddly enough ( I am Independant not Republican or Dem OR Tea Party) the GOP and Teabaggers that I meet are just regular people- most working class. If no one talked politics you wouldn't really know what their alleigance is. I live on a well and when our power goes out ( often) we HAVE no water except for 20 gallon jerry cans which keep getting stolen from our carport, they may cost about 15 dollar each but that is still money out of my pocket plus the trouble of not having water. We now store them in our family room as we live in a small home with no storage to speak of. I can't leave blankets, men's denims or shirts on the line in my back yard- children's bikes are safe enough btu the adult ones need to be securely padlocked. Some of you will tell me these problems exist in urban communities which is true but one of the benefits of living in a small community is the supposed safety- for this we opt out of the convenience of shopping choice, entertainment etc. we used to mess around at the river all the time in that area but now it isn't safe, nor is it safe to walk in the citrus fields alone any more and certanly we need to be out of there before dusk- due to the drugs spilling across the border, due to more militant illegals.
  • Valencian
    The eloquence of your post is truly outstanding. Can you do joined up writing, and read books without pictures, as well ? Oh I forgot, Rednecks can either read OR write but not both !!!
  • nassvalley
    This is an extraordinary result; the Arizona lawmakers mirrored the Federal Law when putting the legislation together and now a Federal Judge turns it over. You couldn't make it up.
  • cardrew
    This bill was designed by an immigrant hate group, and the tea party extremists in Arizona readily accepted this disgrace, and had a slight majority to enact the law. The Republicans (now hijacked by many extremists) introduced this law to force the Obama administration to rush immigration reform, which would lose the Democrats millions of votes from Hispanics in the upcoming November elections. Looks like this plan has backfired and it is the Republicans that will lose votes from the Latin community, as they now realise that the Republicans are racists, closely tied to white supremacists (an oxymoron) in redneck states. The Republicans had many years to solve the illegal immigration, but chose to ignore the issue as it would cost them votes. Previous Republican administrations solved the problem by giving a massive amnesty, thereby attracting many more illegal immigrants. There are a number of other Redneck Republics contemplating the same or even worse laws, but they have been slowed down by complications and the enormous financial impact that Arizona is suffering. The Nazi Republic of Arizona was due to start today, but the ACLU have won an injunction to stop the most odious part from taking effect, no doubt the witchlike Governor of Arizona is foaming at the mouth and will appeal.
  • Thank you for your reasoned comments.
  • My, what a clever response; and here I thought most of you were ignorant rednecks.
  • mcarter2001
    susan bolton you need a passport to mexico you love and protect them damn wet back mexicans go to mexico to live take obama with you
  • The Nazi Republic of Arizona? A little exaggerated, much? If you look at the laws they are practically identical to those of California. As a Jewish - descended person from Arizona, and I can tell you that we are hardly "Nazi".
  • THE REPUBLICAN HOOKER AND THEIR COHORT FUR COAT ELEOPHANT DEMOCRATS. THANK YOU,ARIZON----- FOR, DIVERTING ALL THIER PROBLEMS TO A BUNCH OF HARD WORKING COTTON PICKERS HOW PROUD THEY MUST BE OF THEIR RELIGIOUS AND RACIST GOFFERS.(BIGOTS)---- ISNT IT AMASING THAT THE REPUBLICANS DO NOT MIND BLOWING 40 BILLION DOLLARS A MONTH IN MIDDLE EAST WAR FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR INTERNATIONAL OIL SUGAR DADDIES OTHER 20 MILLION A DAY FOR THEIR LAND GRABBING SUGAR DADDIES, ALLOWING THE CEO"S TO GET MILLIONS OF OUR HARD EARNED TAX MONEY, SENTING OUR HIGHT TECH JOBS TO INDIA AND CHINA. MAKING ANOTHER FREE TRADE (CODE WORD FREE MONEY FOR THE CEO'S WHILE OUR KIDS GO WITHOUT A JOB.) WITH CALONBIA. SPENDING AN OTHER BILLION TO MAINTAIN THEIR 1 BILLION DOLLAR SUGAR DADDIES AMBASSY IN IRAQ, PUTTING OUR KIDS AT ARMS WAY AND HELPING THE IRAQI PEOPLE RECOVER FROM A LYING OCCUPATIONAL WAR, ? ALLOWING THE SUPREME TO FAVOR THEIR INTERNATION SUGAR DADDIES AGAINST OUR OWN AMERICAN VOTERS. SIDEING WITH THEIR PHARMACEUTICALS, CONTRACTORS. AGAINST OUR KIDS, SR CITIZENS AND OUR WORKERS???? BUT THE REPUBLICAN HOOKERS HAVE AN ACE UNDER THIER SLEEVE--THEY HAVE THEIR WHITE CONSERVATIVES (CODE WORD FOR RELIGIOUS AND RACIST BIGOTS) WHO FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR CLIENTS WILL DIVIDE US FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL GREED. THEY WILL END UP DESTROYNG OUR COUNTRY'S ECONOMY., --THE ONLY THING THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISH WAS TO TURN THIS COUNTRY INTO A POLICE STATE AND CREATED A BUNCH OF TERRORIST THAT WILL BE WITH US FOR THE REST OF OUR LIFES. IS IT A WONDER THAT THEY SAY THAT THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT VOTE REPUBLICAN ARE THE SUPER RICH, THE SUPER DUMB AND THE RELIGIOUS AND RACIST BIGOTS ???

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