In a case challenging provisions of Arizona's tough immigration law, SB 1070, a federal judge has denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the portion of the law that requires police officers to determine an individual's immigration status during any lawful stop, detention, or arrest. The judge determined that, given the United States Supreme Court's decision holding that the portion of the law was not unconstitutional on its face, the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that they were likely to succeed on their claims at trial.
The Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office alleging that Arpaio and the Sheriff's Office violated the constitutional rights of Latinos and engaged in retaliatory campaigns against their critics. The lawsuit comes after negotiations between the Sheriff's Office, Arpaio, and the Justice Department broke down after Arpaio refused a settlement agreement that included an independent monitor.
An inquiry into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) by the US
Department of Justice has concluded that the MCSO, headed by outspoken
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional
policing. The report specifically mentions racial profiling, illegal
stops and unlawful retaliation by the department as the basis for its finding.
The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block
South Carolina's immigration law, Act No. 69, from going into effect.
The US claims that the law infringes on powers reserved for the federal
government, and thus violates the Supremacy Clause of the US
Constitution.
A panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked two
portions of the controversial Alabama immigration law from going into
effect, but has allowed the state to begin enforcing other parts of the
law. The panel found that the United States had met its burden for an
injunction pending appeal in regards to the sections of the law that
create a misdemeanor offense for failing to carry an alien registration
document and require school officials to determine whether incoming
children are immigrants of the children of immigrants and evaluate
whether they qualify for English as a second language or other remedial
language classes.
The United States government filed an emergency motion with the 11th
Circuit on October 7, 2011 asking the court to enjoin portions of
Alabama's controversial new immigration law while the issue is on
appeal. The Department of Justice argued in its motion that the state
law encroaches on an area of the law under the exclusive control of the
federal government. The district court in the case had previously
denied the DoJ's multiple requests for injunctions.
A federal judge in Alabama has denied the United States' request for a
preliminary injunction blocking the most controversial
portions of a recently-enacted Alabama law dealing with immigration
enforcement. The judge found that the U.S. government failed to meet
the requirements for such an injunction.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to block enforcement
of Alabama's tough new immigration law, HB 56. The Department's
complaint alleges that regulation of immigration is reserved for the
federal government, thus federal law preempts HB 56 and renders it
invalid.
