Washington: The US Supreme Court removed most provisions of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law on Monday but the one which allows officers to do spot checks of people’s identity papers stands.
The provision 2(B) of the Arizona law has aroused intense controversy because of which requires police to stop and demand proof of citizenship of anyone they suspect of being illegal, even without probable cause, AFP reported.
In Monday’s ruling, US President Barack Obama and the Justice Department were largely vindicated on the wider issue of state interference into federal law on immigration matters.
However, in a victory for Obama’s Republicans opponents, justices unanimously refused to strike down the crucial “check your papers” provision, as they said it was unclear, before its actual implementation, that it would raise constitutional concerns.
“It was improper to enjoin 2(B) before the state courts had an opportunity to construe it and without some showing that 2(B)’s enforcement in fact conflicts with federal immigration law and its objectives,” the ruling said.
President Obama’s Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney used the decision to attack the president for pursuing wrong-headed immigration policies and making broken promises.
“Today’s decision underscores the need for a president who will lead on this critical issue and work in a bipartisan fashion to pursue a national immigration strategy,” Romney said in a written statement.
Immigration is a hot-button issue in the United States as Obama and Romney court the sizeable Hispanic vote with just over four months to go until November’s tightly-contested presidential election.
The Supreme Court ruling on immigration comes amid fevered anticipation of an even weightier decision on the constitutionality of Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, health care reform.
That ruling, which also has major implications for Obama’s re-election chances as well as for America’s health care delivery for decades to come, is now expected to come on Thursday.
Lower courts last year opted to strike sections of the Arizona law they said would place a burden on legal resident aliens in the Mexico-border state, where a third of the 6.6 million people are foreign-born and more than 400,000 are illegal immigrants.
Monday’s decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, was approved by five votes to three — apart from the decision to uphold, for now, the status checks, which was unanimous.
Mexico and 17 other countries have also filed arguments with the Supreme Court opposing the law. At least 36 states have introduced legislation with elements similar to those in Arizona, five of which have been passed.
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