On the recordJune 25, 2012
today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision on S.B. 1070--the controversial Arizona immigration law. The Court--including conservative Justices Anthony Kennedy and John Roberts--agreed with the Obama administration that a State cannot set up its own immigration enforcement system. As a result, the Supreme Court struck down several parts of the Arizona law, including the provision that would have made it a crime in Arizona to be an undocumented immigrant and the provision that would have required legal immigrants to carry documents proving their legal status at all times. The Supreme Court is right. States do not have the right, under the Constitution, to enact immigration laws that contradict Federal law. Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle strongly criticized the Obama administration for even challenging the Arizona immigration law. There was even an amendment offered to try to block the Justice Department from pursuing the litigation brought to the Supreme Court. Fortunately, the vast majority of Democrats, joined by two Republicans--Senators Johanns and Voinovich--blocked that amendment. Now the Supreme Court--including Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy--has sided with the Obama administration in holding the vast majority of the Arizona law unconstitutional.…





