In August, Arizona officials filed a petition for review with SCOTUS seeking the reversal of an injunction granted by a federal judge back in July 2010 preventing several key components of SB 1070 from taking effect.
To review, SB 1070 was officially signed into law by Governor Brewer on April 23, 2010, and scheduled to go into effect on July 29.
However, shortly after the bill was signed into law, the Justice Department sought a temporary injunction to prevent it from taking effect until it received a full review from the courts.
The presiding U.S. District Court Judge in the case granted the temporary injunction, holding that immigration matters were the exclusive domain of the federal government and that four provisions of SB 1070 - dealing primarily with law enforcement and undocumented immigrants - were unconstitutional because they intruded upon this domain.
Arizona immediately appealed the issuance of the temporary injunction to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where it was ultimately upheld by a three-judge panel.
After this decision, the state of Arizona elected to pursue a direct appeal to SCOTUS, rather than asking a larger panel of judges on the 9th Circuit to revisit the case (en banc).
Arguments in the case -- Arizona v. United States, No. 11-182 -- will likely be held next spring with a final ruling issued by June. Interestingly, Justice Elena Kagan will recuse herself most likely because she had previously worked on the case as the solicitor general.
According to legal experts, a potential 4-4 split would block the aforementioned four provisions from taking effect, but not resolve the larger constitutional issues for Arizona or any other state with similar laws currently being challenged (i.e., Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah).
In a released statement, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer expressed relief that the highest court in the land would ultimately resolve the matter.
"Decades of federal inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation and states deserve clarity from the court in terms of what role they have in fighting illegal immigration," she said.
Stay tuned for further developments on this important story ...
Due to the continued complexity of U.S. immigration laws with respect to naturalization and the exposure to facing a denial of this petition, it is critical to speak with a legal professional who has extensive specialized knowledge and experience in immigration law.
This post was provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment