Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced late Wednesday she has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to consider her state’s appeal to a lower court ruling that put on hold key parts of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law.
“I am hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will choose to take this case and issue much-needed clarity for states, such as Arizona, that are grappling with the significant human and financial costs of illegal immigration,” Brewer said in a statement released by her office. “For too long the Federal government has turned a blind eye as this problem has manifested itself in the form of drop houses in our neighborhoods and crime in our communities. SB1070 was Arizona’s way of saying that we won’t wait patiently for federal action any longer. If the federal government won’t enforce its immigration laws, we will.”
Brewer, a Republican, vowed this spring to take the case to the high court after a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting her motion to throw out a district court’s ruling that blocked implementation of parts of the law. The deadline to do so was Wednesday.
Among other provisions, portions of the law put on hold that were originally set to take effect in July 2010 would permit police, while enforcing other laws, to ask people they suspect of being illegal immigrants to produce documentation and would require immigrants to carry documentation.
Brewer said in May that she was “frustrated” by the court’s ruling and planned to appeal it.
“The bottom line is, is that everyone knows that the 9th Circuit has a reputation of being very, very liberal,” she said. “After deliberating and thinking about it, I said, ‘Let’s just go to the Supreme Court.’”
The 9th Circuit said in its April ruling against the state that the Obama administration would likely be able to prove that the law is unconstitutional and that Congress has given the federal government sole authority over immigration laws. The Justice Department has also argued that the law would disrupt U.S.-Mexican relations, hurt cooperation between the state and federal governments and burden legal immigrants.
Lawyers representing Brewer’s position have argued that the federal government hasn’t done enough to enforce immigration laws, leading the state to pass its own laws to bolster the federal laws.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked the implementation of certain provisions of the law less than a day before it was set to go into effect, leaving in place some provisions, including a ban on obstructing traffic while soliciting or offering day-labor services.
The Supreme Court has district courts and circuit courts all over the country saying this kind of activity is illegal. They've got to be out of their minds to try to rule over what's quickly becoming stare decisis in this case or in others that might get to it.
