Can the federal government tell the states that they must provide (pay for) services to all residents, legal or not, while failing to control the border or allowing the states to do it themselves? President Obama thinks so, and for the second time
in a month, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a major
election-year dispute that pits state officials against the Obama
Administration over the balance of power between states and the
national government. While the court is set to hear arguments tomorrow
concerning SB 1070, the tough Arizona immigration law, Obama seems to be on the opposite side of the majority of Americans on yet another issue; Polls show that despite the
Obama administration lawsuit to block Arizona’s immigration
enforcement law, Americans favor the state’s tough provision 2 to
1. Additionally, five states passed similar immigration enforcement laws
in 2011. They are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah. Three of those states were sued by the Obama administration, and all
five state laws have been temporarily blocked by federal judges.
Sixteen states filed a friend of the court brief supporting Arizona
in the Supreme Court case. Eleven states filed a brief supporting the
administration.
AZ Governor Brewer "scolding" Obama
In what is beginning to look like the repetitive Ali vs. Frazier fights, The same two lawyers who argued the health-care case are set to face off again in the Arizona dispute; Washington appellate lawyer Paul Clement and Solicitor General Verrilli.
The question for
the high court is whether Arizona and other states are entitled to
pass state laws that mirror specific provisions in federal
immigration statutes and strictly enforce those provisions even when
the Obama administration has decided, as a matter of policy and
budgetary constraint, not to enforce those same provisions. Obama’s
attorneys will be fighting the usual uphill battle against the
court’s conservative majority. Those five justices have already
upheld another Arizona statute that revokes the business license of
any employer who knowingly hires illegals. This had to be heard by The Supreme Court? Is it not common sense? WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DOES OBAMA NOT UNDERSTAND?
Clement has proven to be a master wordsmith. “There is absolutely no conflict between these Arizona provisions and federal law because SB 1070 adopts the
federal rule as its own," Mr. Clement writes in his brief on
behalf of Arizona. He adds: "Unless
and until Congress expressly forecloses such efforts, Arizona has the
inherent authority to add its own resources to the enforcement of
federal laws." He also has some powerful supporters. Michigan Solicitor
General John Bursch points to the absurdity of the federal governments case in his
brief on behalf of states supporting Arizona. "Congressional
intent is furthered, not thwarted, when state law enforcement
officers verify and communicate to the federal government their
reasonable suspicion that an individual is in the country illegally. A contrary conclusion stands the whole notion of
federal preemption on its head: a state enforcing congressional
directives too well is an obstacle to congressional intent."
Compare federal immigration laws to other federal laws like the Clean Water Act. The antipollution
regulation is designed to enforce a national environmental standard,
but states are free to apply more stringent protections of water
quality within their own jurisdictions without the government suing because it believes the states are usurping its powers. This makes Solicitor General Verrilli's
argument in his brief on behalf of the administration that the
Constitution assigns matters of immigration and border enforcement
exclusively to the national government look like the political ploy it truly is. “SB 1070 is an
attempt by Arizona to impose state priorities in place of the
president's national priorities," Verrilli says. If SB 1070 mimics federal law, protects its citizens and saves the state money, how are those priorities contrary to those of the presidents national priorities?
The REAL reason Obama sued AZ
