The State Law in Arizona and States Rights on Immigration
On April 13, 2010, the state of Arizona passed an immigration law whose intent was to allow state law enforcement to handle some cases regarding immigration status. The law was based on federal law, however, the Constitution grants the Federal Government the ability to regulate immigration. There has been much controversy over the passage of this law.
There are problems on the subject of immigration, itself. There are legal issues that deal with the capacity of a State to oversee its own borders. There also is the concern over giving a state the legal ability to do something that the Constitution meant for the Federal Government to do.
The challenges specific to Arizona pertain to the proximity to Mexico, and the large land border that they share. The southern boundary of Arizona is essentially desert and sparsely populated. There are no good sized population centers that are close to the boundary for hundreds of miles. In fact, the southern boundary of Arizona is simply a political creation, not adhering to any natural land formations or waterways. That makes the border difficult to identify from the ground.
Because of this, the area is commonly utilized for illegal entrance to the United States from Mexico. The broad land area offers miles of wide open space to cross without regular patrols to safeguard the border. In the 1990's, an estimated 80,000 individuals who had entered through the border illegally were estimated to be residing in Arizona. By 2010, that amount had increased to nearly 500,000.
The concern to the Arizona state government was the lack of action taken by the federal law enforcement agencies. Whatever the reasons were for the lack of federal action, Arizona wanted to have the ability to assist the federal agencies by using their own state law enforcement personnel in handling immigration issues. To do this, they needed to have a law passed at the state level. The law was introduced in the state senate as SB 1070, and became known as "Arizona SB 1070".
The objections to the law included a law suit by the Attorney General of the United States that was finally heard by the Supreme Court. In a 5-3 decision, portions of the law were upheld, while other sections were said to be preempted by the federal law. By maintaining parts of the state law, the state law personnel in Arizona can ask for legal documents while interrogating individuals suspected of breaking the law.
Ultimately, the dilemma of state rights on enforcement of immigration matters was neither strengthened nor weakened by the Supreme Court decision. Arizona law enforcers can help with immigration situations to a certain degree, and this was the original purpose of the passing the law. Creating an environment where everyone in the state is in good standing with the law will require a longer period of time to obtain.
There are problems on the subject of immigration, itself. There are legal issues that deal with the capacity of a State to oversee its own borders. There also is the concern over giving a state the legal ability to do something that the Constitution meant for the Federal Government to do.
The challenges specific to Arizona pertain to the proximity to Mexico, and the large land border that they share. The southern boundary of Arizona is essentially desert and sparsely populated. There are no good sized population centers that are close to the boundary for hundreds of miles. In fact, the southern boundary of Arizona is simply a political creation, not adhering to any natural land formations or waterways. That makes the border difficult to identify from the ground.
Because of this, the area is commonly utilized for illegal entrance to the United States from Mexico. The broad land area offers miles of wide open space to cross without regular patrols to safeguard the border. In the 1990's, an estimated 80,000 individuals who had entered through the border illegally were estimated to be residing in Arizona. By 2010, that amount had increased to nearly 500,000.
The concern to the Arizona state government was the lack of action taken by the federal law enforcement agencies. Whatever the reasons were for the lack of federal action, Arizona wanted to have the ability to assist the federal agencies by using their own state law enforcement personnel in handling immigration issues. To do this, they needed to have a law passed at the state level. The law was introduced in the state senate as SB 1070, and became known as "Arizona SB 1070".
The objections to the law included a law suit by the Attorney General of the United States that was finally heard by the Supreme Court. In a 5-3 decision, portions of the law were upheld, while other sections were said to be preempted by the federal law. By maintaining parts of the state law, the state law personnel in Arizona can ask for legal documents while interrogating individuals suspected of breaking the law.
Ultimately, the dilemma of state rights on enforcement of immigration matters was neither strengthened nor weakened by the Supreme Court decision. Arizona law enforcers can help with immigration situations to a certain degree, and this was the original purpose of the passing the law. Creating an environment where everyone in the state is in good standing with the law will require a longer period of time to obtain.
About the Author:
What is the next step? Find out what resources are available to apply for green card or obtain residency status at MexicoAndUS.com. To find out more about green card renewal visit our site at MexicoAndUs.com
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment