Supreme Court strikes down portions of Arizona immigration law

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that states may play a limited role in enforcing laws on illegal immigration, striking down portions of Arizona’s controversial law it said intruded on the federal government’s powers, but upholding other parts. The portion of the law that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain or arrest if they have “reasonable suspicion” that a person is an illegal immigrant was upheld, albeit it could be subject to additional legal challenges once it’s imposed. Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer said that decision, which generated the most controversy, was a victory.

The justices ruled that Arizona cannot make it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to carry identification that says whether or not they are in the U.S. illegally; cannot make it a crime for undocumented immigrants to apply for a job; and the states cannot arrest someone based solely on the suspicion that the person is in this country illegally. President Barack Obama on Monday said he was “pleased that the Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of Arizona’s immigration law.” The president said, “No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like. Going forward, we must ensure that Arizona law enforcement officials do not enforce this law in a manner that undermines the civil rights of Americans, as the Court’s decision recognizes.”