Court Blocks Implementation of Most Egregious Sections of Arizona's Racial Profiling Law in ACLU Lawsuit 

PHOENIX— Ensuring that Arizona law enforcement will not be required to demand “papers” from people they stop who they suspect are “unlawfully present” in the U.S., a federal court today blocked the most egregious provisions of Arizona’s racial profiling law, known as SB 1070, pending a final court ruling on its constitutionality.

 

The Asian American Justice Center, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging the discriminatory measure, scheduled to take effect tomorrow, and asked the court to temporarily block several provisions of the law while the case is litigated.

 

“We are very pleased that the court saw fit to strike down the worst aspects of this divisive law, which invites discrimination and inevitably would result in racial profiling,” said Karen K. Narasaki, AAJC’s president and executive director. “Divisive and unconstitutional laws like SB 1070 are not the answer to our broken immigration system. The frustrated citizens and elected officials of Arizona who sought this law should instead call on their state’s Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, to provide leadership in moving comprehensive immigration reform this year.”

The blocked sections under the law include the following provisions:

 “We applaud the judge for seeing the imminent danger of having this law enacted,” said Julie Su, litigation director of APALC.“SB 1070 presents a distinct and separate immigration scheme that conflicts with federal law and policy and would have a devastating impact on Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latinos and other people of color in Arizona. Indeed, some of those negative effects have already been felt. This ruling makes clear that intimidation of immigrant communities, pre-textual stops to ask for ‘papers,’ and rhetoric about who belongs in Arizona and who doesn’t under the guise of enforcing SB 1070 should cease immediately.”

 

The court did not block several other provisions; including those that criminalize the picking up and entering a vehicle for work purposes if it blocks traffic; forbids local police agencies from adopting policies that limit or restrict enforcement of federal immigration laws; and criminalizes the harboring and transporting of undocumented immigrants.  

 

Narasaki added: “We also applaud the Department of Justice for filing suit to enjoin enforcement of SB 1070.In such a clear case of a state usurping the authority of the federal government, the United States’ lawsuit was critical to supporting our constitutional challenge.”

 

Other members of the civil rights coalition filing the lawsuit include: the ACLU, MALDEF, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is acting as co-counsel in the case.

 

The coalition’s lawsuit, filed on May 17, challenges SB 1070 on the grounds that it invites the racial profiling of people of color, violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law. According to the coalition, the law would subject massive numbers of people— both citizens and non-citizens— to racial profiling, improper investigations and detention.

 

Asian American plaintiffs in the case represented by the coalition include: the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona, Arizona South Asians for Safe Families, Japanese American Citizens League, Muslim American Society, and individuals such as Jim Shee. 

 The Asian American Justice Center and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center are members of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. The Asian American Institute and the Asian Law Caucus, which are also members, filed an amicus brief in support of the constitutional challenge.

 

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The Asian American Justice Center (www.advancingequality.org), a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, works closely with its sister organizations – the Asian American Institute in Chicago (www.aaichicago.org), the Asian Law Caucus (www.asianlawcaucus.org) in San Francisco and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (www.apalc.org) in Los Angeles – to promote a fair and equitable society for all by working for civil and human rights and empowering Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other underserved communities.