By Laura DeKoven Waxman
July 19, 2010

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a brief filed in the District of Arizona July 6, that the Arizona law S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy and requested a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of the law, arguing that the law’s operation will cause irreparable harm. The law is slated to take effect July 28 unless it is stopped by the courts.

The Justice Department’s brief explains that, “The Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country,” and that a patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. Having enacted its own immigration policy that conflicts with federal immigration law, Arizona “crossed a constitutional line,” the brief contends.

In declarations filed with the brief, the Chiefs of Police of Phoenix and Tucson and other law enforcement officials said that S.B. 1070 would hamper their ability to effectively police their communities. The chiefs said that victims of or witnesses to crimes would be less likely to contact or cooperate with law enforcement officials and that implementation of the law would require them to reassign officers from critical areas such as violent crimes, property crimes, and home invasions.

The Department’s brief also says that S.B. 1070 will place significant burdens on federal agencies, diverting their resources away from high-priority targets, such as people implicated in terrorism, drug smuggling, and gang activity, and those with criminal records. It also says that the law’s mandates on Arizona law enforcement will result in the harassment and detention of foreign visitors and legal immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens, who cannot readily prove their lawful status.