It Is Highly Unlikely This Will Ever Become Law. This Law Has State Actors, Police, Enforcing

The United States Department of Justice filed suit against this law on the basis that immigration law is a federal law and states cannot practice or enforce a federal law under the Supremacy Clause (Thomas, 2010). Further, the Department of Justice also claims that the law is too broad and could result in racial profiling and discrimination (Thomas, 2010). Although the law says officers may not reasonably rely on a person's color, national origin, or race to ask them for papers, the stereotypical illegal immigrant in Arizona and America is a Mexican person who has dark brown or olive skin and speaks with a distinct accent. A crystal ball is not needed o know that to enforce this law officers will, naturally, tend to only request paperwork from those who fit this stereotype. Many state law enforcement officers, many in Arizona, in fact, have supported the United States Department of Justice's actions. These officers indicate that the law "drives a wedge" between them and their community members that, ultimately, makes their jobs more difficult (Thomas, 2010).

It is highly unlikely this will ever become law. This law has state actors, police, enforcing federal immigration law. This law requires state actors to enforce a federal law. This is unconstitutional. In 1997 a U.S. Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia in the case of Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997) ( a case in which both Montana and Arizona officers supported the unconstitutionality of state officers enacting federal law) made it clear that state police officers were not to be used to help enforce any federal laws. In that case the Brady Bill, a gun control law, required state police officers to conduct background checks to help the federal law keep those ineligible from owning guns to buy them (Printz, 1997). The Supreme Court said the Brady Bill was unconstitutional because it "purports to direct state law enforcement officers to participate, albeit only temporarily, in the administration of a federally enacted regulatory scheme" much the same way in which the Arizona law requires state actors to do in SB 1070 (Printz, 1997).

References

Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997). Cornell University Law School. Retrieved February 4, 2012 from

Thomas, P. (2010). Department of Justice files lawsuit challenging Arizona immigration law. ABCnews.com. Retrieved February 4, 2012 from