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Justice Department Sues Arizona Over SB 1070, Seeks Injunction

Posted July 6, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: Federal Immigration Policy

As anticipated, the Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against Arizona regarding the state’s draconian immigration law, SB 1070.

The main argument of the lawsuit is that federal law trumps state law under legal doctrine of preemption, but civil rights components are also including in the filing. Additionally, the Justice Department is seeking an injunction to keep the law from going into effect.

From The Washington Post:

The lawsuit invokes as its main argument the legal doctrine of “preemption,” which is based on the Constitution’s supremacy clause and says that federal law trumps state statutes. Justice Department officials believe that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility, law enforcement sources said.

But the filing also contained a civil rights component as well, arguing that the Arizona law would lead to police harassment of U.S. citizens and foreigners. President Obama has warned that the law could violate citizens’ civil rights, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has expressed concern that it could drive a wedge between police and immigrant communities.

The federal lawsuit will dramatically escalate the legal and political battle over the Arizona law, which gives police the power to question anyone if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is an illegal immigrant. In addition to Obama and Holder, the measure has drawn words of condemnation from civil rights groups and has prompted at least five other lawsuits. Arizona officials have defended the law and urged the Obama administration not to sue.

Tags : arizona, arizona boycott, department of justice, sb 1070

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