Arizona SB 1070

Arizona SB 1070
Arizona State Legislature
Full nameSupport Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act
House votedApril 13, 2010 (35–21)
Senate votedApril 19, 2010 (17–11)
Signed into lawApril 23, 2010
GovernorJan Brewer
BillSB 1070
Status: Partially struck down
Arizona governor Jan Brewer met with President Barack Obama in June 2010 in the wake of SB 1070, to discuss immigration and border security issues.[1]

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration law in the United States when passed.[2] It has received international attention and has spurred considerable controversy.[3][4]

U.S. federal law requires immigrants older than 18 to possess any certificate of alien registration issued to him or her at all times; violation of this requirement is a federal misdemeanor crime.[5] The Arizona act made it also a state misdemeanor for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents,[6] and required that state law enforcement officers attempt to determine an individual's immigration status during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" when there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is an illegal immigrant.[7][8] The law barred state or local officials or agencies from restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws,[9] and imposed penalties on those sheltering, hiring and transporting unregistered aliens.[10] The paragraph on intent in the legislation says it embodies an "attrition through enforcement" doctrine.[11][12]

Critics of the legislation say it encourages racial profiling, while supporters say the law prohibits the use of race as the sole basis for investigating immigration status.[13] The law was amended by Arizona House Bill 2162 within a week of its signing, with the goal of addressing some of these concerns. There have been protests in opposition to the law in over 70 U.S. cities,[14] including boycotts and calls for boycotts of Arizona.[15]

The Act was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010.[2] It was scheduled to go into effect on July 29, 2010, ninety days after the end of the legislative session.[16][17] Legal challenges over its constitutionality and compliance with civil rights law were filed, including one by the United States Department of Justice, that also asked for an injunction against enforcement of the law.[18] The day before the law was to take effect, federal judge Susan R. Bolton issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the law's most controversial provisions.[19] In June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the case Arizona v. United States, upholding the provision requiring immigration status checks during law enforcement stops but striking down three other provisions as violations of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.[20]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference az-wh-meet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Archibold, Randal C. (April 24, 2010). "U.S.'s Toughest Immigration Law Is Signed in Arizona". The New York Times. p. 1.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN_LA_boycott was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference az-3mo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1304
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference sb1070sect3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Police may "transport" said alien to a federal facility "in this state or any other point" where such a facility exists. Arizona HB 2162, §3.
  8. ^ "News Time Spanish" (in Spanish). Radio Lingua Network. June 1, 2010.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference sb1070sect2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference sb1070sect5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Arizona SB 1070, §1.
  12. ^ Vaughan, Jessica M. (April 2006). "Attrition Through Enforcement: A Cost-Effective Strategy to Shrink the Illegal Population". Center for Immigration Studies.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference ap-dissa-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference cbc-may1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference wapo-boy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "General Effective Dates". Arizona State Legislature. Archived from the original on May 14, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  17. ^ Arizona State Legislature. "Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 1-103". Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Feds sue was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference cnn-blocks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference wapo-sc-ruling was invoked but never defined (see the help page).