Bolton’s Ruling – a Major Miscarriage of Justice
July 28, 2010
By Leah Durant
On Wednesday morning US District Judge Susan Bolton blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect, just hours before SB 1070 was to become the most aggressive illegal alien enforcement measure in the country. Opponents of SB 1070 say the law is unconstitutional and a recipe for racial profiling. The law was being challenged in seven lawsuits, including one filed by President Barack Obama’s administration, which sought a preliminary injunction to block the law. Bolton began hearing testimony last week regarding the constitutionality of SB 1070.
Security around the Federal Court House in Phoenix has tightened in recent days in anticipation of a decision by Bolton. Major protests were expected by the losing side of the immigration ruling. At least one group planned to block access to federal offices, daring officers to ask them about their immigration status. The volume of the protests will likely be turned down a few notches because of the ruling by Bolton.
Bolton eliminated the most substantial provisions of the law – including sections that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws. In explaining her reasoning Bolton stated, “There is a substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens under the new (law). “By enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a ‘distinct, unusual and extraordinary’ burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose.”
The ruling was reminiscent of California’s Proposition 187 ruling a decade ago in which another liberal leaning court blocked another extremely popular anti-illegal immigration law from being enforced. In this ruling Bolton ignored the will of the vast majority of Arizonan and American voters. A recent Rasmussen poll found 65% of people in Arizona support the law, with just 27% opposed. Furthermore, a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll found that 55 percent of Americans supported the law.
The architect of the law, State Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, denounced Bolton’s ruling. “She ignored case law… We’ll win on appeal,” Pearce told Phoenix based News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Bruce St. James. Pearce said Bolton’s ruling “is actually outside the law. She’s inserted opinion here.” He said the state will appeal immediately to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals and that he expects the case to eventually wind up before the US Supreme Court, where he expects it to win on a 5-4 or a 6-3 decision. Arizona governor Jan Brewer has also publicly denounced the Bolton ruling and proclaimed, “the fight is far from over.” Brewer’s lawyers said Arizona shouldn’t have to suffer from America’s broken immigration system when it has 15,000 police officers who can arrest illegal immigrants.
Numerous journalists chronicling the atmosphere in Arizona in the weeks prior to Wednesday’s ruling noted scores of immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, have packed up and left the state in order to avoid prosecution. Many of those interviewed have reported that they plan on resettling in other US states.
Reuters reporters counted dozens of impromptu yard sales in Latino neighborhoods in central and west Phoenix last weekend as residents desperately attempt to sell furniture and other possessions before fleeing the state. The US government estimates 100,000 unauthorized immigrants left Arizona after the state passed an employer sanctions law three years ago requiring companies to verify workers’ status using a federal computer system. There are no figures for the number who have left since the new law passed in April, only anecdotal news reports.
In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave. It is not clear at this time whether illegal aliens who fled will promptly return in light of this ruling. What is obvious is that the Arizona economy and public safety system will continue to suffer if it remains an illegal immigrant haven.
There remains a glimmer of hope that the Supreme Court will right today’s injustice. Other states seeking to copycat the Arizona law are also likely to push forward in their plans to stem illegal immigration. We should not excuse the Obama administration from prosecuting illegal aliens or protecting the border. After all, as Chief Executive of the United States, it is the President’s duty to enforce the law.
