Supreme Court mulls Ariz. immigration law

WASHINGTON -- Bucking the Obama administration, Supreme Court justices seemed to find little trouble yesterday with major parts of Arizona's tough immigration law that require police to check the legal status of people they stop for other reasons.

But the fate of other provisions that make state crimes out of immigration violations in Arizona was unclear in the court's final argument of the term.

The latest clash between states and the administration turns on the extent of individual states' roles in dealing with the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants. Immigration policy is essentially under the federal government's control, but a half-dozen Republican-dominated states have passed their own restrictions, out of frustration with what they call Washington's inaction to combat an illegal flood.

Parts of laws adopted by Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah also are on hold, pending the high court's decision.

Civil rights groups say the Arizona law and those in some other states encourage racial profiling and ethnic stereotyping, and debate over such laws could have an impact on this fall's elections. More than 200 protesters gathered outside the court, most of them opposed to the Arizona law.

In an unusual comment, Chief Justice John Roberts made clear at the outset of the administration's argument yesterday that the court was looking only at state-versus-federal power, not the civil rights concerns that already are the subject of other lawsuits. "So this is not a case about ethnic profiling," Roberts said.

That matter dealt with, both liberal and conservative justices reacted skeptically to the administration's argument that the state exceeded its authority when it made the records check, and another provision allowing suspected illegal immigrants to be arrested without warrants, part of the Arizona law aimed at driving illegal immigrants elsewhere.

"You can see it's not selling very well," Justice Sonia Sotomayor told Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr.

Verrilli tried to convince the justices that they should view the law in its entirety, and as inconsistent with federal immigration policy. He said the records check would allow the state to "engage effectively in mass incarceration" of immigrants lacking documentation.