The U.S. Department of Justice had little choice in determining whether to sue the state of Arizona over its draconian new immigration law, S.B. 1070. The law is a usurpation of the federal government’s constitutional authority to set the country’s immigration policy. S.B. 1070 also allows individuals to sue police departments that do not enforce the law, meaning that police officers may feel obligated to act against their consciences and the Constitution by engaging in racial profiling.
The Constitution states that Congress should determine immigration policy, but the Arizona law creates three immigration crimes that aren't part of federal law, including working without documentation and transporting undocumented immigrants. These acts are not in themselves criminal in the rest of the country. The law also requires criminal prosecution for undocumented immigrants, but federal law allows for civil penalties. The Arizona legislature has overstepped its constitutional authority with these provisions.
Arizona will have a hard time convincing courts to uphold the law given its negative impact on public safety. The police chiefs of Tucson and Phoenix wrote in statements filed along with the suit that the new law will force them to reassign officers away from problems such as robberies and violent crimes and will erode trust among the communities they are charged to protect.
The Arizona law goes into effect July 29. DOJ’s suit asks for a preliminary injunction and aims at striking down the law permanently. There is every reason the suit should be successful, but its success will not fix our country’s immigration system. Americans in every state are legitimately frustrated with federal government inaction, and comprehensive immigration reform is the only solution.