The Week: Most Recent Social Issues:Arizona's Immigration Law

Arizona's immigration law: A Supreme Court disaster for Obama?

The Week — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:05:00 -0400

For the second time in as many months, President Obama is clashing with the highest court in the land. In March, skeptical conservatives on the Supreme Court appeared to doubt the constitutionality of Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. And this week, the court seemed ready to uphold the most controversial provision of S.B. 1070, a tough immigration law that Arizona passed in 2010. The provision in question requires police officers to determine the immigration status of any person they "reasonably" suspect is an illegal immigrant, which critics (including the president's Justice Department) say...

Will the Supreme Court overturn Arizona's tough immigration law?

The Week — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:42:00 -0400

The Supreme Court is preparing to hear oral arguments over the constitutionality of S.B. 1070, a controversial immigration law passed by Arizona in 2010. The law is considered to be one of the harshest of its kind in the country, and liberals argue that it encourages discrimination against Latinos. Conservatives, on the other hand, say the law is necessary to plug holes in a broken immigration system. The case is prompting an emotional, polarized reaction, the likes of which were last seen just a month ago, when the court weighed whether to strike down President Obama's health care law. And...

The Supreme Court takes on Arizona's immigration law: Bad for Obama?

The Week — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:51:00 -0500

Add a fiercely polarizing immigration law to the list of controversial topics being tackled by the Supreme Court in its "potentially epic" term. The nation's highest court announced Monday that it would rule on the constitutionality of Arizona's headline-making crackdown on illegal immigration, virtually assuring that the issue will become a key point of contention in the 2012 presidential race. The review adds to an already high-profile caseload that includes challenges to President Obama's health-care reform law. A decision on the immigration law, which was strongly opposed by the White House...

Do Arizonans secretly oppose the state's immigration law?

The Week — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:57:00 -0500

The video: On ABC's "Primetime: What Would You Do?" actors play out a scene with moral or ethical implications to see how ordinary citizens will react. Last week, the show journeyed to Arizona, home to the country's toughest — and most controversial — immigration law. Actors posing as a Hispanic civilian and an off-duty security guard repeatedly enacted a scene at a Tucson restaurant, the "guard" aggressively pestering the Hispanic man for his identification papers. The restaurant's customers consistently intervened, said a publicist for the show: Over a two-day shoot, "we...

Did Mexican drug lords really put a bounty on Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

The Week — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:50:00 -0400

Arizona's notoriously tough and media-savvy Sheriff Joe Arpaio says Mexican drug cartels have put a $1 million bounty on his head, presumably for his trademark sweeps for illegal immigrants in Latino areas of Maricopa County. The threat was delivered via a slightly garbled text message, reportedly from a disposable cell phone in Mexico. Is this death threat against a U.S. law officer a dangerous escalation of Mexico's spreading drug war, or a publicity stunt? (Watch a local report about the alleged threat)

This smells like a stunt: "This is just the latest supposed threat against Arpaio,...

Immigration: Which state is the next Arizona?

The Week — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:15:00 -0400

Even after a federal judge blocked the most controversial measures from taking effect, almost 20 states are considering hard-line Arizona-style immigration laws. Here are four that might adopt one in the near future:

VIRGINIA
What's happening: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion that Virginia police can (but don't have to) ask for immigration documents during arrests and routine stops — essentially a voluntary version of the Arizona law. Prince William County has already adopted a measure requiring police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they arrest. (Watch...

What happened to Arizona's tolerance?

The Week — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:12:00 -0400

Arizona wasn't always known for its harsh policies against illegal immigration, say Anna Gorman and Nicholas Riccardi in the Los Angeles Times. Just six years ago, "this border state was among the nation's most welcoming of illegal immigrants." Its two Republicans senators were strong advocates for legalizing millions of illegal residents across the country, and then-governor Janet Napolitano "boasted of her warm relationships" with leaders across the border in Mexico. Now Gov. Jan Brewer is fighting to keep courts from overturning a state law designed to drive out illegal immigrants, Sens. Jon...

Arizona's immigration law: Is it dead?

The Week — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:35:00 -0400

In what immigrant advocates call a major victory, a federal judge blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona's hardline immigration law hours before they were to take effect. Judge Susan Bolton ruled on Wednesday that certain "unconstitutional" provisions undermined federal authority, while other aspects of the legislation — including the requirement that Arizona police check the papers of those they suspect to be illegal immigrants — would have inadvertently "swept up" legal immigrants. Will Bolton's decision effectively kill the law, or is this just a speed bump? (Watch a CNN...

Is Arizona's immigration law already a success?

The Week — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:50:00 -0400

Illegal immigrants are reportedly fleeing Arizona this week, trying to avoid getting caught when the state's tough new immigration law takes effect on Thursday, making it a crime to be in the state without proper papers and requiring police to investigate suspected violators. Does the exodus mean that the law is already working, or that it's creating the injustices and chaos that critics feared? (Watch a local report about fleeing immigrants)

This proves the government can stop illegal immigration if it tries: If Arizona lawmakers were aiming to "encourage illegal immigrants to leave Arizona," ...

Neo-Nazis at the Mexican border

The Week — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:17:00 -0400

Arizona's controversial new immigration law calls for local law enforcement to fight illegal immigration, but apparently local neo-Nazis want in on the action, too. Jason "J.T." Ready, 37 — who claims ties to the white supremacist National Socialist Movement — and his group are reportedly roaming the Arizona border area in full military get-up, searching for Mexican border-crossers. Ready has a criminal record, was kicked out of the Marines (twice) and "has swallowed whole and fully digested the rhetoric of the right-wing lunatic fringe," says Stephen Lemons in the Phoenix New Times...

Is Obama's Arizona suit 'toxic' for Dems?

The Week — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:33:00 -0400

At a private White House meeting this weekend, a group of Democratic governors expressed "deep anxiety" about the Obama administration's lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law and its effects on the November election. "It is such a toxic subject," Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen tells The New York Times. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, however, says the suit "makes sense" policy-wise, and will help Democrats win over Latino voters. With a majority of Americans in support of the Arizona law, should the Obama administration have waited until after November to put forth a challenge? (Watch a...

Feds vs. AZ: Is a second lawsuit coming?

The Week — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:20:00 -0400

Despite having already filed one lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's controversial immigration law, Attorney General Eric Holder isn't ruling out a second one. In an interview with CBS News' Bob Schiffer, Holder said that if the law — which requires state and local law enforcement officers to arrest people who can't prove they are in the country legally — ever goes into effect and it results in racial profiling, "we would have the tools and we would bring suit on that basis." Is it overkill to threaten a second suit before the first one has even been heard? (Watch...

Arizona vs. Obama: Who's in the right?

The Week — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:30:00 -0400

Is suing Arizona the right call?

The Week — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:59:00 -0400

The Obama Administration finally filed suit against Arizona, seeking to block the July 29 implementation of the state's controversial immigration law. The Justice Department argues that only the federal government can set and enforce immigration policy, and that Arizona's law runs afoul of the Constitution's supremacy clause. Arizona lawmakers, not surprisingly, disagree, and even some opponents of the law say the federal suit is just inflaming an already hot political issue. Is Obama making a wrong move? (Watch a CBS report about outrage over the lawsuit)

Obama had to sue: Arizona officials,...

Arizona's latest immigration idea makes sense

The Week — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:50:00 -0400

Even as Arizona continues to distinguish itself as America's undisputed leader in hare-brained xenophobia, the state has stumbled upon a very good idea. Hot on the heels of SB 1070, the controversial Arizona law that hands cops expansive powers to detain anybody who gives off an insufficiently American vibe, Republican lawmakers in the state have set their sights on a new state law to deny citizenship to babies born on American soil whose parents lack proper papers.

Currently, anyone born within U.S. boundaries counts as a U.S. citizen, and it doesn’t matter a bit how mom got in. The proposal...

Obama vs. Arizona's 'ill-conceived' immigration law

The Week — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:30:00 -0400

President Obama gave his first big speech on immigration Thursday, laying out his case for bipartisan immigration reform and calling out Republicans for uniformly opposing an initiative some of them supported when it was proposed by President Bush. In lieu of a coherent policy to deal with the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, he said, you get a "patchwork" of local laws, like the "ill-conceived" and "ultimately unenforceable" law that will go into effect in Arizona this month. Is the president playing straight, or villifying Arizona for partisan reasons? (Watch highlights from Obama...