US Supreme Court likely to uphold Arizona immigration law

The US Supreme Court seemed skeptical of the Obama administration's argument on Wednesday that the controversial Arizona immigration law passed in 2010 had exceeded its authority, according to the Associated Press.

The justices seemed to lean towards allowing Arizona to enforce part of the law which would allow police officers to check the immigration status of those they thought were in the country illegally. Another provision would allow the arrest of suspected illegal immigrants without warrants.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor told Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, "You can see it's not selling very well," referring to the federal government's argument that Arizona had overstepped its authority, said the AP.

Referring to the law in which officers can check the immigration status of people who were detained and then pass on the information to the federal government, Chief Justice John Roberts asked Verrilli, "What could possibly be wrong?" according to the Washington Post.

Verrilli argued that Arizona's law would simply move the problem of illegal immigration to the state's neighbors through its "attrition through enforcement" strategy, said the Post.

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The liberal justices and some of the conservatives on the bench did express concern that holding people until their immigration status check was complete might violate their rights, according to Politico.

The court's decision on the law could impact the manner in which states legislate illegal immigration, and could also influence the Latino vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch supporter of states' rights, asked rhetorically, "A state has no power to close its borders to people who have no right to be there?" according to Politico.

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Similar legislation has been proposed in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Indiana, according to the Post.

Proponents and opponents of the law came to demonstrate outside the Supreme Court, with some supporters holding flags of the US, Arizona and the tea party. Pastor Warren H. Stewart, Sr., opposes the bill and said, "I'm here because this is a justice issue… This whole movement is like déjà vu for the civil rights movement 50, 60 years ago. I mean blacks used to be racially profiled and now Latinos are," according to NPR.

A supporter of the bill, Benjamin Williams, said, "I feel that through the 10th Amendment, it supports Arizona, because it's the right of the state to make their own laws that are applicable to them and it's not the federal government to dictate what they say or not," according to NPR.

The Supreme Court's decision is expected in June, the second major ruling that will be passed down during the height of the presidential campaign, the first being the court's ruling on constitutionality of the health care law.

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