The Federal Government Moves to Block the Arizona Immigration Law from Taking Effect

How do you ask a federal judge to quash a state statute even before it goes into effect?  Perhaps you could ask the United States Justice Department because they have done just that.  With just one week before Arizona’s controversial immigration law is scheduled to take effect, the federal government is pushing for a block of the law, maintaining that the law is unconstitutional and furthering asserting that Arizona cannot establish its own immigration policy because it may interfere with federal enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.  This whole debate is really a question of division of power and more specifically the allocation of power between the state and federal government.  It would be an enormous assertion of federal power to have a federal judge overturn a state statute before it is even allowed to go into effect. 

As most are well aware of, the Arizona law requires the police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.  With the recent news of the federal government’s attempted blockade, protests on both sides of the issue are really heating up.  Supporters of the policy maintain that Arizona has every right to take measures to prevent illegal immigration and that it is wholly inappropriate for the federal government to adopt a quasi-enforcement policy.  Supporters further maintain that the Arizona law simply reinforces the federal policy.  Although the law does have many similarities to the federal enforcement guidelines, it goes a step further and will undeniably lead to many problems, including clogging an overly saturated penal system with more arrests.  We would be better served by developing policies that would make it easier for folks who do not have a criminal record and have shown a benefit to society to stay, instead of jailing them and subsequently deporting them. 

Although the federal government has wide support, it will be difficult to get a federal judge to block a state statute before it even goes into effect.  With that being said, this issue is unlikely to die quickly no matter how things are decided.  Whatever outcome the Court decides will certainly be contested and appealed.  And because this issue is very compelling and has garnered a lot of attention, I would not be surprised if the Supreme Court is called upon to ultimately make a final determination.