Arizona's New Immigration Law Continues to Make Ripples

Immigration has always been a prominent aspect of American society. For centuries, our nation has always welcomed newcomers from foreign countries, resulting in our epithet “The Melting Pot.” The words inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty read “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” However, the enormous rise in illegal immigration in recent years has caused the attitudes toward immigration to become more critical. A bipartisan bill attempting to address the issue of illegal immigration remains unsuccessful. President Obama continues to convince legislators to agree to the legalization of the millions of illegal immigrants residing in our nation.

In April of this year, Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer approved what is currently considered the most stringent immigration law in existence today. Intended to take effect on July 29, the aforementioned law obliges Arizona police officers to check the immigration status of the people they detain if they believe that he or she is an illegal immigrant. This immigration law has inspired intense controversy and heated debate, primarily because it appears to promote racial profiling.

The New York Times article, “Debate Over Arizona Immigration Law Comes to U.S. Court,” by Randal C . Archibold, discusses the most current step in the great conflict involving this divisive new bill. This article outlines the preliminary hearing posing A Phoenix police officer against Governor Jan Brewer. The police officer and his counsel, Stephen Montoya, argue that Arizona’s Immigration Law is unconstitutional, intruding on the federal government’s own illegal immigration measures. Opposing them, John Bouma, the governor’s lawyer, maintains the stance that illegal immigrants negatively impact Arizona in an economic way and must harshly be dealt with. This article effectively outlines the two opposing viewpoints in this heated debate, taking place for the first time in federal court. Informative and detailed, this article provides a coherent, yet enlightening update on the continuing controversy over Arizona’s new Immigration Law.