Phoenix, AZ – Arizona’s governor ordered a state board to redistribute a training video on the state’s controversial immigration law to all law enforcement agencies.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The move comes ahead of an expected ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this month on the law, which was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010.
Brewer said in a statement Tuesday that she wants to make sure officers are prepared if the court upholds the law.
Parts of the law blocked from taking effect include a provision requiring police to question people’s immigration status while enforcing other laws if there’s a reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally.
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board’s video outlines factors that constitute reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally, including language, demeanor and foreign-vehicle registration.
It also includes types of identification that should immediately end an officer’s suspicions about immigration status.
The case was argued before the high court in April, and a ruling is expected by the end of June. Based partly on skeptical questions posed by justices during the hearing, legal experts expect that the court likely will uphold Arizona’s requirement that police check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons; that provision was put on hold by a judge in July 2010 and hasn’t yet been enforced. Less controversial parts of the law were allowed to take effect.
A decision in favor of Arizona could clear the way for other states to enforce immigration-check requirements and create an opening for states to take a larger role in immigration enforcement after mostly staying out of it for decades and letting the federal government handle it alone.
Five others states – Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah – have enacted similar laws.
Is eating a burrito made with cholov yisroel sufficient reason to assume the person is a potential illegal alien? These guidelines are likely to result in racial profiling and will continue to be subject to extended litigation even if the Court upholds the underlying law.
Hopefully the Supreme Court will uphold the Arizona Law. It is time for us to stop ILLEGAL immigration. It is draining the resources of this country and the TAX PAYING citizens. The same way illegal welfare and food stamp receipients are draining the resources.
Does the state of Arizona take into account that they are illegal aliens who usurped Indian nations – Apache and Comanche – while aiding and abetting the breaking of over 220 treaties between the US and the Indian nations? If you really want to deal with illegal aliens, look in a mirror first. As far as the drain that immigrants are on your resources I suppose that your Mayflower ancestry left you some sort of abundant yerusha to tide you over when the economy tanks. We have seen the enemy and they is us.