Arizona Immigration Law Dissolved by Federal District Judge

On November 7^th Federal District Court Judge Susan Bolton agreed with the Justice Department that the Arizona law against immigration conflicted with federal authorities. In 2005 Governor Janet Napolitano, now Obama’s secretary of homeland security, signed a law in Arizona that empowered local law enforcement to prosecute immigrant traffickers. The law was slightly altered in 2010 with enactment S.B. 1070 that was created to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants. Other provisions that was included in S.B. 1070 were the implementation carrying government issued documentation; failure to provide valid documentation gave local law enforcement the authority to arrest any person suspected of being in the country illegally.

Judge Bolton’s decision has now nulled the original and edited Arizona immigration law that enforced immigration at a local level. The Justice Department agrees that the law was created to address immigration, but conflicts with federal immigration enforcement. Supporters of the Arizona law argue that “the law is not intended to replace federal law enforcement but to bolster them as the state dealt with immigrants illegally crossing the border with Mexico”. 

A spokesman for the Justice Department says that federal officials are “pleased with the judge’s ruling”. Many believe that Ms. Brewer’s revisions of enactment S.B. 1070 were ‘some of the nations toughest’ regulations on illegal immigration. Ms. Brewer’s lawyers raised arguments in defense of the law saying the law is meant to “target and dismantle human smuggling operations across the southwest border”. With the immigration crisis become worse, both local and federal government officials need to come to agreements on how to handle immigration.