Landmark – Supreme Court – Arizona Immigration Decision
AZ Catch 22 – SCOTUS says Arizona should check for illegal immigrants. Illegals found in Arizona won’t be subject to Arizona immigration law. Only federal law applies. And those are the laws the Feds won’t enforce.
The President of the United States recently stated that he didn’t intend to enforce all immigration laws. As it happened, he said that while the Supreme Court was in deliberation, regarding Arizona statute S. B. 1070… a state law that addresses illegal immigration.
Bottom line, the Supreme Court said Arizona can ask about bad guys, but the bad guys may well go free.
A Link To The Syllabus
I’m including a link to the Syllabus “prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.” It puts the arguments and findings into fairly tolerable language for mere mortals.
I particularly suggest reading Justice Scalia’s (dissenting) Opinion, beginning on page 30. Here’s the link…
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-182b5e1.pdf
Justice Scalia’s Dissenting Opinion
I stitched together a few statements from Justice Scalia’s powerful presentation. Hopefully, I haven’t altered the intent.
These are his words…
“After this case was argued and while it was under consideration, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced a program exempting from immigration enforcement some 1.4 million illegal immigrants under the age of 30.
“…The President said at a news conference that the new program is ‘the right thing to do’ in light of Congress’s failure to pass the Administration’s proposed revision of the Immigration Act. Perhaps it is, though Arizona may not think so. But to say… that Arizona contradicts federal law by enforcing… the Immigration Act that the President declines to enforce boggles the mind.
“…there has come to pass, and is with us today… A Federal Government that does not want to enforce the immigration laws…, and leaves the States’ borders unprotected… So the issue is a stark one. Are the sovereign States at the mercy of the Federal Executive’s refusal to enforce the Nation’s immigration laws?
“…Arizona has moved to protect its sovereignty—not in contradiction of federal law, but in complete compliance with it.
“…If securing its territory in this fashion is not within the power of Arizona, we should cease referring to it as a sovereign State.”
Recruiter’s View
Arizona is rendered nearly defenseless. Here’s more from Justice Scalia’s Opinion…
“Thousands of Arizona’s estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants—including not just children but men and women under 30—are now assured immunity from enforcement, and will be able to compete openly with Arizona citizens for employment.”
Of course, this dilemna is not exclusive to Arizona.
The Supreme Court has confirmed that states across the United States can expect to burden their citizens with higher costs and lower income in a country where the rule of law does not apply.