Democracy Now
The Supreme Court has overturned key parts of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law S.B. 1070 but upheld the law’s controversial “show me your papers” provision. On Monday, the court struck down three of the law’s four provisions that subject undocumented immigrants to criminal penalties for seeking work or failing to carry immigration papers at all times. In each case, the majority said those powers rest with the federal government, not with Arizona. But in a unanimous decision, the justices upheld the law’s controversial Section 2B, which requires police to check the immigration status of people they stop before releasing them. We’re joined from Washington, D.C., by Marielena Hincapié of the National Immigration Law Center, a group that has filed a civil rights challenge to S.B. 1070 and similar laws in five other states, and from Phoenix by Viridiana Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant who would benefit from the Obama administration’s recent order allowing undocumented youth to apply for a two-year stay from deportation. “The fact that I can leave my house and tell my mom, ‘Mom, I’ll be back tonight,’ does not change the fact that she can leave the house and not tell me the same thing,” Hernandez says. “That’s why we continue fighting, because our families are still at risk, and our communities are still at risk. And so, there hasn’t been [a] win unless our whole community wins.” [includes rush transcript]
Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.
Viridiana Hernandez, undocumented immigrant who has lived in Arizona since she was one year old. She recently turned 21. Hernandez was arrested in March protesting police collaboration with immigration authorities. She now canvases neighborhoods to get out the vote, even though she herself cannot cast a ballot. A student at Grand Canyon University, she would benefit from President Obama’s order allowing undocumented youth to apply for a two-year stay from deportation.
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- Supreme Court Upholds ‘Show Me Your Papers’ in Arizona’s SB 1070 (colorlines.com)
- Top Court Rules on Immigration Law (huffingtonpost.com)
- Legal experts weigh in on SB 1070 ruling (azfamily.com)
- Federal Officials Suspend Immigration Enforcement Agreements In Arizona (thinkprogress.org)
- SB 1070: An illegal immigration odyssey (thefutureamerican.wordpress.com)
- SB 1070 Ruling Has Both Sides Claiming Victory (newamericamedia.org)
- Supreme Court Upholds Arizona’s Racial Profiling Law (commondreams.org)
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