Supreme Court to Rule on Arizona Immigration Laws
The Supreme Court has agreed to look at controversial immigration laws in Arizona.
The justices said that they will review a federal appeals court ruling that blocked several provisions targeting those not born in the U.S. One of the questionable practices included police questioning a person’s immigration status if the officer suspected the person to be in the country illegally.
Alabama, South Carolina and Utah are also facing administration lawsuits, and Georgia and Indiana are being sued by private groups over immigration measures adopted as well.
The decisions set the stage for an election-year decision and issue that many candidates have had on their radar. While on one hand the Obama administration challenged the Arizona law, arguing that regulating immigration is the job of the federal government, not states, the state of Arizona is claiming that the federal government isn’t doing enough to address the problem and that border states are suffering disproportionately.
Currently there are about 12 million illegal immigrants believed to live in the U.S.
Because of her work on the issue in the Justice Department, Justice Elena Kagan will not take part in the Arizona case. The other justices will hear arguments, expected to take place in late April.
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