By Saniya Ghanoui -- July 6, 2010
The U.S. Justice Department filed a suit against the state of Arizona challenging the constitutionality of the state's new immigration laws.
In the lawsuit, the government contends the Arizona law, which allows police to verify the immigration status of a person stopped for other crimes, violates the Supremacy Clause and interferes with the federal authority over immigration. The Supremacy Clause in the Constitution says that federal law overrides any state statutes.
The lawsuit also contains a civil rights section saying the Arizona law would hinder people's rights and would lead to police harassment of both US citizens and foreigners.
State Sen. Russell Pearce is the main sponsor of the bill. He called the lawsuit an "absolute insult to the rule of law."
"It's outrageous and it's clear they don't want (immigration) laws enforced. What they want is to continue their non-enforcement policy," said Pearce. "They ignore the damage to America, the cost to our citizens, the deaths" tied to border-related violence.
Today's filing of the lawsuit is not a complete surprise. Last month Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed that the Justice Department had intentions to sue Arizona and were in the process of preparing a case.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former governor of Arizona, said she blocked similar legislation when she was in office "because they would have diverted critical law-enforcement resources from the most serious threats to public safety and undermined the vital trust between local jurisdictions and the communities they serve."
Paul Bender is an Arizona State University law professor. He said the federal government's lawsuit shows that federal statue pre-empts state statue.
"It's important to have the federal government's view of whether state law is inconsistent with federal law, and they're the best people to say that," said Bender.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Arizona and the government will seek an injunction preventing the law from going into affect later this month.
(Photo courtesy: AP Images)
