Arizona+Law+-+2010

Also known as SB(Senate Bill) 1070, the Arizona Law is a legislative act, passed by the Arizona government, that allows police officers in the state of Arizona to make any citizen that they suspect to be illegal to prove that they are a legal citizen with immigration papers. The most controversial parts of the law were rejected on July 28th 2010, one day before the law was going to go into effect, and these parts will be appealed by the government of Arizona in November 2010.
 * Definition**:
 * The Arizona Senate Bill 1070**:
 * http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf (Primary Source Document)
 * This is the text of the Arizona Immigration Law

In January of 2010, Russell Pearce, Senator of Arizona, introduced the bill SB 1070. It was passed, in February, by the senate and then the house approved an amended version of the bill on April 13th.
 * Background**:

On April 23, 2010, Arizona governor, Jan Brewer, signed Arizona SB 1070. Many people say that this is the nation's toughest law on illegal immigration.

This law was made to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the United States but more specifically the state of Arizona. The law works as follows: Any police officer or immigration officer in the state of Arizona is allowed to ask any citizen to prove that they are a legal citizen by showing them immigration papers such as a driver's license or any documents that prove that they are a legal citizen. The proposed bill has caused a lot of debate as to whether the law is unconstitutional or not. In an attempt to try to stop the law from being put into effect, President Obama said that the law "is forcing our people to face discrimination."

The bill was signed on April 23rd, 2010 but it would not go into effect until July 29th, 2010. On April 29th, 2010, three separate lawsuits were filed in federal court challenging regarding the constitutionality of the law. Another lawsuit was filed on May 17th by a group made up of 14 organizations and 10 individuals. This lawsuit specifically identified what was unconstitutional about the law. This lawsuit said that the new law violates: the first amendment "because it exposes speakers to scrutiny based on, among other things, their language or accent", the fourth amendment "because it allows for warrantless seizures of individuals in the absence of probably cause that they have committed crimes.", and the 14th amendment "because it deprives national and origin minorities of their 14th amendment right to equal protection under the law by subjecting them to stops, detentions, questioning and arrests due to race or national origin."

On July 28th, 2010, one day before SB 1070 would take effect, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton blocked the most controversial parts of the law. This prevented the state of Arizona from allowing their police officers to make anyone who may seem as though they are illegal immigrants prove that they are legal citizens. Susan Bolton allowed some of the "less debated provisions of the law to go into effect, including one that bans cities from refusing to cooperate with federal immigration agents."

A U.S. Court set a November court date for an appeal from the state of Arizona regarding the blocked parts of the controversial law.

Pros: Cons:
 * Pros and Cons of The Arizona Law:**
 * Helps eliminate people that are in the United States illegally
 * Forcing many illegal immigrants to flee to their home countries
 * Has the chance to prevent violence caused by illegal immigrants
 * A lot of the violence that can be linked to drugs will minimize
 * Allows Americans to have the jobs that illegal immigrants hold
 * Many believe that it causes police and immigration officers to "racially profile"
 * Makes the United States look "bad"
 * Some believe that it is unconstitutional
 * Takes away people's right

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 * Video for further understanding:**

Sources: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/president-obama-says-arizona-law-has-the-potential-to-be-applied-in-discriminatory-fashion.html http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/09/20100509immigration-law-timeline.html http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/18/20100518arizona-immigration-law-organizations-lawsuits.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/29arizona.html?_r=1 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66U0HJ20100731