PHOENIX - Arizona's new immigration law conflicts with federal statutes and undermines the nation's foreign policy, attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department argued Friday.
Assistant Attorney General Tony West argued to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton was right to bar the state from enforcing several key sections of the law. He said there is evidence to show the provisions are unconstitutional, a key element in getting an injunction.
In legal papers filed Friday, West also said there is evidence to show that letting Arizona begin enforcing SB 1070 would cause "irreparable harm" to the country, which outweighs any potential harm Arizona would suffer while the questions of the law's legality work their way through the legal system.
Friday's arguments were a response to arguments by attorneys for Gov. Jan Brewer asking the federal appeals court to dissolve the injunction. They contend there is no conflict between what Arizona seeks to do and federal law.
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Brewer has said any delay in implementing SB 1070 hurts the state because it has to continue paying for services ranging from education to incarceration for an estimated 400,000 unauthorized people.
A three-judge panel will hear from both sides on Nov. 1 at the federal courthouse in San Francisco.
At stake are some of the principal provisions of the law, which Brewer signed in April. They were set to take effect July 29 before Bolton barred them.
These include:
• Requiring police officers to make a reasonable attempt to check the immigration status of those they stop.
• Forbidding police to release anyone they have arrested until that person's immigration status is determined.
• Making it a violation of Arizona law for anyone not a citizen to fail to carry documentation.
• Creating a new state crime of trying to secure work while not a legal resident.
