This news is breaking just now on cable channels
Arizona by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
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The Justice Department has decided to file suit against Arizona on grounds that the state's new immigration law illegally intrudes on federal prerogatives and will seek a preliminary injunction to stop the legislation from taking effect, law enforcement sources said Tuesday.
I'll update as more news becomes available.
Will it prevail in court?
The lawsuit, which three sources said could be filed as early as Tuesday, will invoke for its main argument the legal doctrine of "preemption," which is based on the Constitution's supremacy clause and says that federal law trumps state statutes. Justice Department officials believe that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility, the sources said...
The preemption doctrine has been established in Supreme Court decisions, and some legal experts have said such a federal argument likely would persuade a judge to declare the law unconstitutional.
But lawyers who helped draft the Arizona legislation have expressed doubt that a preemption argument would prevail.
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Update #1
USA Today reports that predictably, the state's two Republican U.S. Senators are unhappy over this legal challenge. In a joint statement, Senators John McCain and John Kyl said
Attorney General Holder speaks of the "federal government's responsibility" to enforce immigration laws; but what are the people of Arizona left to do when the federal government fails in its responsibility?
The Obama administration has not done everything it can do to protect the people of Arizona from the violence and crime illegal immigration brings to our state. Until it does, the federal government should not be suing Arizona on the grounds that immigration enforcement is solely a federal responsibility.
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Update #2
The Associated Press details the reaction of the law's sponsors
The government contends that the Arizona law violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution, a legal theory that says federal laws override state laws. It is already illegal under federal law to be in the country illegally, but Arizona is the first state to make it a state crime and add its own punishment and enforcement tactics.
State Sen. Russell Pearce, the principal sponsor of the bill co-sponsored by dozens of fellow Republican legislators, denounced the reported lawsuit as "absolute insult to the rule of law" as well as to Arizona and its residents.
"It's outrageous and it's clear they don't want (immigration) laws enforced. What they want is to continue their non-enforcement policy," Pearce said. "They ignore the damage to America, the cost to our citizens, the deaths" tied to border-related violence.
I also just saw this editorial cartoon which was apparently posted online in the past few minutes.
Razing Arizona by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon
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Update #3
Here are a few more editorial cartoons about this draconian immigration law that the Feds are seeking to overturn. This issue could work to the advantage of the Democratic Party in the 2010 Elections although Hispanic/Latino voters already hold a rather low opinion of the Republican Party. Good policy, it is said often, makes good politics.
Check Under Your Bed by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon
Arizona Streets by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon
Steve Benson, Comics.com (Arizona Republic)
Alien in Arizona by Martin Sutovec, Freelance Cartoonist (Slovakia), Buy this cartoon
Matt Bors, Comics.com (Idiot Box)
Calm Heads Prevail by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon