Arizona’s Harsh Immigration Law SB1070 Dealt Another Blow in Court

hispanically-speaking-news-219x300By Hispanically Speaking News

Yesterday the 9th Circuit Court of Arizona dealt another blow to Arizona’s harsh immigration law known as SB1070.  This court’s decision basically upheld a lower Arizona court’s decision to block the “harboring” provision of the law.

The main defender of SB1070, Governor Jan Brewer, appealed the lower court’s decision and asked the 9th Circuit to overturn it.

The harboring provision would have penalized anyone who “harbored” an undocumented immigrant by giving them a ride in their car, provided housing or provided shelter in anyway to them.  The ruling joined the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits in striking down state and local laws prohibiting connecting and interacting with individuals based on their immigration status.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) amongst others led the charge to challenge the SB1070 law and said, “With this ruling, the Ninth Circuit again rebuked Arizona’s attempt to unconstitutionally target immigrants.”

The Mexican and U.S. governments also asked the 9th Circuit court to reject the “harboring” provision of the law.

The most controversial aspect of SB1070 the “show me your papers” provision has been upheld by courts.  Under subsection 2(b) state and local law enforcement officers are required to verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect are in the country illegally.

Many people and organizations like MALDEF and the American Civil Liberties Union feel that this will lead to racial profiling especially of Latinos.

This article was first published in Hispanically Speaking News.

[Photo by Gage Skidmore]

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