PrintMay 26, 2011
SCOTUS backs Arizona immigration law
The Supreme Court has now validated at least some state involvement in immigration enforcement, upholding Arizona's law that suspends the business license of a company that knowingly and willfully hires illegal aliens. The United States Chamber of Commerce (remember when they supposedly were evil supporters of Republicans?) had brought suit against the law.
The vote was 5 to 3, along liberal/conservative lines, with Justice Elena Kagan recusing herself because she was Solicitor General when the Obama administration appealed the case. Bill Mears of CNN writes:
The 5-3 ruling Thursday is a victory for supporters of immigration reform on the state level.It was the first high court challenge to a variety of recent state laws cracking down on illegal immigrants, an issue that has become a political lightning rod.The outcome could serve as a judicial warm-up for a separate high-profile challenge to a more controversial Arizona immigration reform law working its way through lower courts. That statute would, among other things, give local police a greater role in arresting suspected illegal immigrants.The hiring case turned on whether state law tramples on federal authority.
Federalism lives!
