First lawsuits filed against Arizona immigration law

Submitted by mexbiznews on Fri, 04/30/2010 - 5:51am

Los Angeles Times

Attorneys on Thursday filed the first lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a new Arizona law that makes it a state crime to lack proper immigration papers and requires local police to determine whether people are in the country legally.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders sued in U.S. District Court, arguing that the law is an unconstitutional intrusion into the federal government's ability to regulate immigration and that it would lead to racial profiling. Two police officers — one from Tucson, one from Phoenix — filed separate suits.

And the American Civil Liberties Union and Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF, which successfully overturned California's 1994 anti-illegal-immigrant ballot initiative Proposition 187, held a raucous news conference outside the state Capitol promising their own lawsuit.

www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-immigration-20100430,0,2843409.story

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