Federal Judge Blocks Controversial Portions of Arizona's SB 1070

Foiled! At least for now. Opponents of Arizona's new immigration law, passed as SB 1070 and signed into law by Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer (right), got a last-minute reprieve this morning as U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that significant portions of Arizona's new immigration law will not be allowed to take effect tomorrow as scheduled. The federal judge blocked implementation of the most controversial elements of the new law until the courts resolve the issues. According to an article in the LA Times,

The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents -- including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.

The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places.

Opponents of the new law argued the measure would lead to racial profiling, conflict with federal immigration law and distract local police from fighting more serious crimes. The U.S. Justice Department, civil rights groups and a Phoenix police officer had requested the issuance of an injunction to prevent the law from being enforced. They got most of what they wanted.

"There is a substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens under the new (law)," Bolton ruled. "By enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a 'distinct, unusual and extraordinary' burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose."

As reported in an article on Firedoglake, the Judge also expressed a belief that the U.S. Justice Department would prevail in its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new law:

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton put ... portions of the law on hold because, in her words, “the United States is likely to succeed on the merits in showing that … Sections of S.B. 1070 are preempted by federal law.” She also found that the United States would suffer “irreparable harm” if she allowed those sections of the law to go forward, and “that the balance of equities tips in the United States’ favor considering the public interest.”

The sections blocked pending court review are:

Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 11-1051(B): requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person.

Section 3 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 13-1509: creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien registration papers.

Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 13-2928(C): creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work.

Section 6 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 13-3883(A)(5): authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States.

Other parts of the law that were allowed to stand, at least for now, include making it a crime to transport or harbor an “unlawfully present alien,” and “allowing legal residents to sue any state official, agency, or political subdivision for adopting a policy of restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law."