On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down provisions of Arizona’s law on immigration but also said that a portion regarding suspects’ status could move forward. The state provision that requires police officers to check the immigration status of a person suspected of being in the United States illegally was not thrown out by the Supreme Court. The justices did make a note that the provision could encounter future legal challenges.
The ‘show me your papers’ requirement for such a moment was upheld by the decision from the court. The court did say that officers cannot arrest people for minor immigration infractions. The court also said that Thursday would be the final day for issuing rulings this term, which could mean that the ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care law could be issued on Thursday.
The court’s opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, which was unanimous when it comes to permitting the status check of people suspected of being in the country illegally. The justices were divided when it came to defeating the other portions of the law.
The provisions that were defeated by the court include the following: all immigrants are required to obtain or carry immigration registration paperwork, a state criminal offense for an illegal immigrant who seeks work or holds a job and police having the ability to arrest suspected illegal immigrants without having warrants at the time of the arrest. The administration for President Barack Obama sued to block the law in Arizona when it was enacted almost two years ago. The four key provisions of the law were kept from operating by federal courts.
Arizona’s law started a bit of a trend in the United States as five states have adopted laws with variations of the one in Arizona. Those five states include Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Indiana and Utah. Provisions of those laws have been put on hold pending the ruling issued by the Supreme Court.