This is a big, although not the biggest Supreme Court decision everyone is waiting for. This is the court case that establishes whether or not Arizona’s immigration law is legal. Here is the opinion of the court and some concurring and dissenting opinions. Here is the bottom line that the Court came down on, the state of Arizona has the right to assist Federal Government in finding illegal immigrants. So that means in the state of Arizona a police officer can ask you for proof of citizenship if you receive a citation of any form. The case says that the state of Arizona cannot change or go against any federal law, so the state of Arizona cannot deport these immigrants themselves, and if the Federal government doesn’t want to deport them, then this person could be re-released and recaptured. Bottom line, Arizona police can help find illegal immigrants, but the state police can’t do anything with them.
Both sides are calling this a victory. I am calling this as a clear sign of a need of immigration reform. The problem is that with the economy being so crappy, the average American doesn’t care, unless you live in a border state. Justice Scalia tries to argue in his opinion that states have the right to keep whomever they want in or out, but it seems to me that the law hasn’t held that belief since the Civil War. Federal Law supersedes state law, that’s why the Supreme Court has so much power, and this problem needs to be solved on the Federal level, since we can’t live in a country with 50 different immigration policies.
