Photo by OZinOH/Flickr (Creative Commons)
The U.S. Supreme Court Building, May 2006
As it begins its new term today, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to consider an appeal from the state of Arizona on SB 1070, the controversial 2010 anti-illegal immigration law that has since spurred copycat laws throughout the United States – but whose key provisions remain blocked by a federal judge’s ruling in July of last year.
Among those provisions is one that would allow local police to check for immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that people they encounter while conducting their work could be in the country illegally. But while this component of the law hasn’t gone into effect in Arizona, it was just allowed in Alabama by a federal judge in Birmingham last week, who issued a contradictory ruling when considering an even stricter post-SB 1070 immigration crackdown measure in that state.
While blocking other provisions, the Birmingham judge also upheld another controversial aspect of the Alabama law, one that requires public schools to check the immigration status of students. The decision on this provision has since been tied to a rash of school absences.
What does last week’s ruling in Alabama bode for SB 1070 and state immigration laws in general as the Supreme Court begins its new term? For starters, with two different federal judges in two states now having issued contradictory rulings on state immigration laws, the Alabama ruling ups the ante that the high court will take up SB 1070, potentially settling once and for all whether states can or cannot enforce immigration laws.
The Alabama decision itself is on its way to appeals court. Here is what one legal expert told the International Business Times, which published a good analysis of the Alabama decision and what happens next on a larger scale:
“Because of the proliferation of state immigration laws, we need resolution from either the Supreme Court or Congress,” Stephen Yale-Loehr, teaches Immigration Law at Cornell University Law School, told IBTimes. “Right now, for example, it is very hard for national employers to know what they can or cannot do in various states.”
