Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the state’s controversial immigration law.
On Wednesday, Brewer and Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne asked the Supreme Court to reverse the injunction, arguing that the country’s “broken system leaves the people and government of Arizona to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of a national problem.”
“I am hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will choose to take this case and issue much-needed clarity for states, such as Arizona, that are grappling with the significant human and financial costs of illegal immigration,” Brewer said in a statement, according to the Arizona Republic.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against SB 1070 last July, arguing that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The legislation was incredibly controversial for its provision requiring law enforcement to demand immigration papers from anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” of being in the country illegally, which critics called an invitation to racial profiling.
Later in July 2010, District Judge Susan Bolton blocked parts of the law until the lawsuit is decided — including the key “reasonable suspicion” clause.
In April, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld the injunction.
The DOJ has also filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s similar immigration law.
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