Arizona's 2010 immigration law
By Associated Press, Published: February 29
PHOENIX — A federal judge blocked police in Arizona from enforcing a
section of the state's 2010 immigration enforcement law that
prohibited people from blocking traffic when they seek or offer day
labor services on streets.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled Wednesday that groups seeking
to overturn the law will likely prevail in their claim that the day
labor rules violate the First Amendment. She rejected arguments by the
state that the rules were needed for traffic safety and pointed out
that the law, also known as SB1070, says its purpose is to make
attrition through enforcement the immigration policy of state and
local government agencies.
"This purposes clause applies to all sections of SB1070, and nowhere
does it state that a purpose of the statutes and statutory revisions
is to enhance traffic safety," the judge wrote.
The ban was among a handful of provisions in the law that were allowed
to take effect after a July 2010 decision by Bolton halted enforcement
of other, more controversial elements of the law. The previously
blocked portions include a requirement that police, while enforcing
other laws, question people's immigration status if officers suspect
they are in the country illegally.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Gov. Jan Brewer's appeal of
Bolton's decision to put the most contentious elements of the law on
hold. Another appeals court has already upheld Bolton's July 2010
ruling.
Three of the seven challenges to the Arizona law remain alive. No
trial date has been scheduled in the three cases.
Some of Arizona's biggest law enforcement agencies have said in the
past that they haven't made any arrests under the sections of the law
that were allowed to take effect.
Brewer said in a statement that she was disappointed with Bolton's
"erroneous decision," which she said has further eroded the state's
ability to regulate public safety. Also, Wednesday's ruling is just
one more reason to look forward to the Supreme Court's scheduled
consideration of SB1070 in April, she said.
The governor signed the measure into law in the spring of 2010.
Dan Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of
Arizona, one of the group's representing people who filed the lawsuit,
said the judge saw through the government's ruse that the day labor
rules were about traffic safety, when the goal all along was to get at
day laborers.
"There are clear laws now that allow any cop to unclog (the streets)
well before they had this law," Pochoda said.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other
opponents had asked the judge for a preliminary injunction to block
enforcement of the day labor rules, arguing they unconstitutionally
restrict the free speech rights of people who want to express their
need for work.
Brewer's lawyers had opposed attempts to halt enforcement of the day
labor restrictions. They argued the restrictions are meant to confront
safety concerns, distractions to drivers, harassment to passers-by,
trespassing and damage to property.
Brewer's lawyers have said day laborers congregate on roadsides in
large groups, flagging down vehicles and often swarming those that
stop. They also said day laborers in Phoenix and its suburbs of
Chandler, Mesa and Fountain Hills leave behind water bottles, food
wrappers and other trash.
The judge wrote in her latest ruling Wednesday that the law appears to
target particular speech rather than a broader traffic problem. "The
adoption of a content-based ban on speech indicates that the
Legislature did not draft these provisions after careful evaluation of
the burden on free speech," the judge wrote.
Bolton previously denied an earlier request to block the day labor
rules, but opponents were allowed to bring it up again after the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on a similar issue in September.
The appeals court had suspended a law from Redondo Beach, Calif., that
banned day laborers from standing on public sidewalks while soliciting
work from motorists. The court ruled the law violated workers' free
speech rights and was so broad that it was illegal for children to
shout "car wash" to passing drivers.
The ruling Wednesday still leaves other elements of the law in place,
such as minor tweaks to the state's 2005 immigrant smuggling law and
2007 law prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring illegal
immigrants.
Other parts of the law that remain in effect include a prohibition on
state and local government agencies from restricting the enforcement
of federal immigration law and a ban on state and local agencies from
restricting the sharing of information on people's immigration status
for determining eligibility of a public benefit.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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