Judge levels injunctions against controversial provisions of Arizona SB 1070

Last Modified: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:59:55 GMT v1.001

Controversial provisions of Arizona SB 1070, viewed by opponents as an anti-immigration bill, were blocked by a Federal judge on Wednesday after the Obama administration filed a motion with a federal court requesting that an injunction against the bill be issued until the constitutionality of the bill can be determined.

“This ruling is an important first step but it will be meaningless without comprehensive immigration reform," said Mohamad Nasir, Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

Judge Susan Bolton, in a 36-page ruling, struck down sections of the law that forced immigrants to carry papers proving their legal status and required law enforcement officers to determine the immigration status of any suspicious person that they had stopped for another crime.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, an organization dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees and a partner organization to the CIOGC, commended the decision.

“Thank to this injunction, Arizona police will not be forced to check the immigration status of people they stop who 'look' undocumented," said the ICIRR in a written statement.

Critics of the bill have said its passage would lead to racial profiling and discrimination and could be abused by law enforcement officers; however, the decision to override the provision had more to do with encroaching federal authority than the possibility of racial profiling and discrimination.

The Obama administration argued that the power to regulate immigration is exclusively the right of the federal government.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vowed to file an appeal, saying she's willing to take it to the Supreme Court if needed.

The altered version of the bill will go into effect Thursday.

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