DOJ Determined to Deter SB 1070
July 12, 2010
By Leah Durant
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice officially filed a lawsuit against Arizona for its planned immigration enforcement measure SB 1070. The suit names the state of Arizona as well as Governor Jan Brewer as defendants. SB 1070 was planned to take effect on July 29th. During the past few months numerous observers have speculated that the Justice Department would eventually intervene to block the Arizona law from being enforced. Such speculation was confirmed when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed last month in an interview with a foreign television network that the administration intended to challenge the Arizona policy.
In a prepared statement, a senior official at the DOJ accused Arizona of trying to “second guess” the federal government. It went on to state that the “invalid” law interferes with federal immigration responsibilities and “must be struck down.” Ironically, defenders of the Arizona law argue that SB 1070 simply enforces existing law and is necessary because the federal government has consistently failed in its responsibilities to protect the border.
The DOJ statement went on to say that, “This is about who in our constitutional system has the authority to formulate immigration policy.” “And as the Supreme Court has explained, and we believe the constitution makes clear, constitutional and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of [immigration laws] throughout this country.”
This argument ignores in some respects the fact that a patchwork system is already in place. Throughout the past few years, a wide range of states, cities and municipalities have passed various forms of policies that govern immigration within their jurisdictions. None may be as aggressive as the one passed by the Arizona state legislature.
In November 2007, for instance, Oklahoma passed HB 1804 which cut off undocumented immigrants from state services and made it a crime for anyone, including citizens, to provide transport or assistance to undocumented immigrants. On the other side of the spectrum, a number of cities have passed ‘sanctuary policies’ that attempt to shield undocumented immigrants from federal immigration authorities. Governor Brewer pointed to the Obama administration’s lack of action on sanctuary policies as evidence of its hypocrisy and refusal to enforce immigration laws.
Brewer also labeled the ruling as, “nothing more than a massive waste of taxpayer funds.” Even Congressional Democratic members from Arizona spoke against the DOJ lawsuit. Harry Mitchell, one of these Democratic members, recently sent a sharply worded letter to President Barack Obama urging him not to sue. In the letter Mitchell writes that:
I believe your administration’s time, efforts and resources would be much better spent securing the border and fixing our broken immigration system,” the two-term congressman wrote in the letter. “Arizonans are tired of the grandstanding, and tired of waiting for help from Washington. … [A] lawsuit won’t solve the problem. It won’t secure the border, and it won’t fix our broken immigration system.”
Mitchell’s argument seems reasonable, but the Obama administration will likely plow forward for largely political reasons. A number of other private organizations have already filed briefs against the Arizona law, which indicate that the administration has not filed suit in order to correct some perceived injustice that is not being addressed elsewhere. A more logical conclusion is that the Obama administration is acting in order to shore up support among Hispanic voters before November’s decisive elections. A number of polls conducted recently indicate that Latino voters have become increasingly disenchanted with Obama’s handling of the immigration debate. A Gallop poll found that during January to May, Latino support for the nation’s first African American president fell from 69 percent to 57 percent. Obama needs to consider the safety of American citizens over short-term political gains that may be obtained through such grandstanding. A lot needs to be done to improve the immigration system in the US and this lawsuit is not a step in the right direction.
