A Pending Lawsuit

The controversial law SB1070 of Arizona, which contains some regulations related to illegal immigration in that state and criminalizes the status quo, is not, in my opinion, a racist or a discriminatory law, contrary to what some opposition groups have stated.

But the Obama administration has presented a lawsuit before the common courts concerning this law’s unconstitutionality, not because the law elevates racial profiling of undocumented persons to the category of criminals nor because it could lead to ethnic discrimination in the U.S., but rather on the grounds that it contains legal regulations that violate the U.S. Constitution.

This law authorizes the police to investigate the immigration status of any person suspected of being in the country illegally, authorizing law enforcement officers to ask for personal documents with the intention of arresting the suspect if he does not prove legal immigration status. This is considered the source of the law’s original sin. Let us see why.

In Article Six, the fundamental law of the United States establishes the hierarchy of laws and the preeminence of the Constitution over the legislation of each state, in this case Arizona.

The Fourth Amendment establishes that inhabitants (not citizens) of the United States have the right to be safe in their persons, papers and effects, from any search or seizure, prohibiting warrants in this sense that are not supported by legal cause.

In accordance with innumerable precedents, U.S. courts recognize that immigration is not a question that is of concern to state authorities, but rather to federal ones. On this occasion, the lawsuit shows that the challenged law interferes with exterior U.S. politics, which constitutes another motive for classifying it as unconstitutional.

Although it is true that Obama has been noted for his pretty words concerning this issue, in practice, little action has been taken toward a national consensus that would lead to fair, short-term immigration reform for the more than 12 million immigrants who remain in the shadows, lending merit to his sponsorship of this lawsuit, which for the moment undermines the validity of the polemical law.

Now, thousands of Hondurans in these circumstances can sleep easy, since Obama’s lawsuit may leave the application of this pending law without effect by the end of this month.