Judge upholds controversial Arizona immigration law

An Arizona judge upheld the state’s landmark immigration law on Friday after challengers failed to show that police would enforce the statute differently for Latinos than it would for people of other ethnicities.

The ruling could signal the end of the case and give a victory to backers of the 2010 law.

Bolton upheld the law’s controversial requirement that police, while enforcing other laws, can question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally. The Supreme Court also upheld the requirement, but the law’s challengers continued to try to get it overturned at a lower-level court.

Opponents have “not produced any evidence that state law enforcement officials will enforce SB1070 differently for Latinos than a similarly situated person of another race or ethnicity,” Bolton wrote ...

The judge did make one change to the law. She permanently barred a section of the law that prohibited people from blocking traffic when seeking or offering day labor services on the streets. An appeals court previously also held Arizona couldn’t force such provisions ...

CAIRCO Notes: Under the Obama Administration:  Feds' move weakens Arizona’s ability to enforce remaining SB 1070 provision

Additional suggested reading:

Timeline: How the Obama Administration Bypassed Congress to Dismantle Immigration Enforcement

Illegal Immigrants Leaving Arizona Over New Law-A study of immigrants in Arizona published in 2008 found that non-citizens, mostly in the country illegally, held an estimated 280,000 full-time jobs.

E-Verify program-IRCA prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal workers.