LatinoJustice Takes On Arizona

Though the federal government is charged with setting this country's immigration policies, states and localities across the country have begun creating their own immigration policies. Though they have done so under the guise of simply trying to aid the federal government in enforcing its laws, they in fact are often motivated by hopes of driving out Latinos and other immigrant communities, newly arrived or not.

Arizona recently passed legislation that goes far beyond any previous effort.  Not only has Arizona fashioned its own draconian immigration policy explicitly designed to expel from the state those families with members who lack lawful status, but it chose to do so by empowering anti-immigrant advocates the power to hijack law enforcement agencies and force their officers to turn every encounter with possible immigrants into an immigration raid. Given the fact that every Latino in Arizona is "presumed" by such advocates to be an undocumented immigrant, this law sets the stage for a bitter confrontation along racial lines.  Hundreds of Latino families have already fled the state, often pulling their kids out of school before the school year was finished.  If the law is actually implemented, tens of thousands of Latinos will be driven out of the state.

For these reasons LatinoJustice PRLDEF, with the assistance of the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, filed an amicus brief opposing the July 30, 2010 implementation of this law on behalf of several major national Latino organizations:  the National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.   The brief explains to the court how the law, if implemented, will impact Latinos:  that it will:

1. Deprive undocumented Latino immigrants of essential medical, educational, nutritional, and other benefits to which they are entitled under federal law and the Constitution,
2. Foster discriminatory animus against Latinos and lead those motivated by such animus to harass Latino residents and businesses
3. Subject Latinos to racial profiling and other civil rights violations by state and local law enforcement officials.
 

These arguments are made in support of the claim that the implementation of this law will irreparably harm Latinos across the state and that the public interest is best served by granting a stay of the implementation of the law until a full trial has been held.