Arizona Governor Jan Brewer fulfilled her promise to fight for the enactment of SB 1070, the state’s strict immigration bill, in its totality all the way to the Supreme Court. Late today she filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to overturn a lower state court ruling that put on hold on certain portions of the bill.
In July of last year a state district court had blocked key elements of the bill including the requirement that law enforcement could stop anyone they suspected of being in the country illegally and giving them the right to ask for someone’s papers. Brewer went to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the hold and her appeal was denied. She had until today to take her fight to the Supreme Court and she did.
The U.S. Government, numerous immigrant advocacy organizations, the Mexican-American Legal Defense & Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union had filed suit against Arizona to stop SB 1070 from going into effect.
“Arizona bears the brunt of the problems caused by illegal immigration [and] is the gateway to nearly half of the nation’s illegal border crossings,” said former Solicitor General Paul Clement on behalf of the state.
