Editorial: Feds must fix immigration problem
Andy Hernandez, carrying a Mexican flag, and Allison Culver, carrying an American flag argue over SB1070 outside the State Capitol Building in Phoenix, Ariz. (June 25, 2012) Credit: AP
The U.S. Supreme Court made it clear yesterday that illegal immigration is a national problem that only the federal government has the authority to solve. A five-justice majority called an Arizona immigration law -- designed to make life so tough for illegal immigrants that they'd leave that state -- a policy of "attrition through enforcement."
The court affirmed that Washington has the power, but lamented that its failure to use it was frustrating states on the front lines.
"With power comes responsibility, and the sound exercise of national power over immigration depends on the nation's meeting its responsibility to base its laws on a political will informed by searching, thoughtful, rational civic discourse," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy.
"Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law."
What clearer message can there be for the president and the Congress that they must confront the enormous problem of 11 million immigrants living here illegally?
The federal government's failings have left Arizona and other parts of the country awash in illegal immigrants and the crime, safety risks, property damage and environmental problems that the court noted are sometimes associated with the influx. But states can't impose laws that undermine the federal government's authority on immigration.
Three provisions of Arizona's law crossed the line, and the court blocked their implementation.
One made it a state crime to be undocumented, or for immigrants not to have registration papers on them at all times.
Another made it a state crime for an unauthorized immigrant to hold a job or even look for work in Arizona. The state's law made those offenses punishable by a fine and up to six months in jail. Federal law imposes civil penalties.
The third provision authorized police in Arizona to arrest people without warrants if there were probable cause to believe they committed some offense that would make them deportable. That would have given police in Arizona greater authority to make warrantless arrests than federal immigration agents.
The court did punt, unanimously, on what is considered the most controversial provision of the Arizona law. The "papers please" provision will allow Arizona to require police to do their best to learn the immigration status of anyone they detain if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully in the United States. A person is presumed to be in the country legally if he or she has a valid Arizona drivers license. Lacking that, police can contact federal officials who maintain a database of immigration status.
The justices said they would wait for actual challenges to this provision to arise and to see how Arizona courts interpret it before deciding whether federal law applied -- or if there was a constitutional issue of ethnic profiling or long detentions for the sole purpose of checking immigration status.
There is no doubt that the federal government has the power to determine and enforce immigration policy. It's time it did so.
