The Supreme Court has issued a mixed ruling in its review of the Obama Administration's challenge to Arizona's anti-immigrant law known as SB 1070.
First, the good news: by a 5-3 vote, the Justices struck down most components of the law under consideration, sending a clear signal that these types of laws are unconstitutional and reaffirming that the federal government has primary responsibility on immigration. The sections struck down were: Section 3, criminalizing the failure to carry alien registration documents; Section 5(C), criminalizing the seeking of work without authorization; and Section 6, allowing warrantless arrests when an officer has “probable cause” to believe that a person has committed a crime that makes that person removable from the United States.
The bad news: the Court did not strike down Section 2B, the “papers, please” racial profiling provision, leaving it for others to address. This section of the law requires officers to check the status of anyone they stop or arrest if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is unlawfully present. This provision was the core issue for most people following the case; however, the case was not argued on civil rights grounds. It is important to note, though, that the Court did not give states a green light to advance copycat measures and did not foreclose other preemption and constitutional challenges to the law. Those challenges will now continue, and lawsuits are already pending.
By upholding the “papers, please” section of SB 1070, the Supreme Court failed to decisively remove the bull’s eye from the backs of Arizona’s Latinos, leaving the issue for future lawsuits to address. Those future challenges are already moving forward, as racial profiling and civil rights violations should not stand in Arizona or anywhere else. Arizona—personified by ‘America’s worst sheriff’ Joe Arpaio and documented by an exhaustive Department of Justice report—already has a sorry history when it comes to violating and abusing the rights of Hispanics simply based on the way they look or sound.
This decision intensifies the call to action for the Latino community. Three provisions were struck down, but there is still one to go. The fight continues in the legislatures, in the courts, and in the voting booth. There will be a need to educate our communities so they can advocate for their rights, and for our government to send civil rights monitors to states that seek to legitimize racial profiling and take action to protect victims.
On SB 1070, the answer to the question “which side are you on?” will stay in the minds of Latino voters for years to come. Those who embrace legislating cruelty and discrimination are on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of our nation’s values, and they will be held accountable.