US urges court to uphold order on Arizona immigration law

PHOENIX - The U.S. Department of Justice is urging an appeals court to uphold a judge's order blocking key provisions of Arizona's law targeting illegal immigration.

Arizona's law intrudes on federal authority to regulate immigration, disrupts the United States' relations with Mexico, hinders cooperation between state and federal officials and wrongly burdens legal immigrants, department lawyers argued in a brief filed late Thursday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Arizona law also would "divert federal resources from carefully crafted priorities, such as the pursuit of criminal aliens who pose the largest threats to public safety and national security," the department argued.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on July 28 granted the department's request for a preliminary injunction blocking some provisions of the law from taking effect July 29. The department sued July 6 to challenge the law enacted in April.

Blocked provisions included one requiring immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers. Another would require police, while enforcing other laws, to question people's immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit has scheduled a Nov. 1 hearing for arguments on the state's appeal.

Gov. Jan Brewer's lawyers filed an opening brief on Aug. 26, asking the appellate court to reverse Bolton's order.

Brewer's lawyers said the federal government hasn't effectively enforced immigration law at the border and in the state's interior, and that the state's intent in passing the law was to assist federal authorities, as Congress has encouraged.

They also said the judge erred by accepting speculation by the federal government that the law might burden legal immigrants and by concluding that the federal government would likely prevail.

Arizona has more than 400,000 illegal immigrants. Supporters of the law say the influx drains money from hospitals, education and other services and that a crackdown is needed to pressure illegal immigrants to leave the state and to deter further illegal crossings.

Aside from the federal government's arguments, other critics of the law say it would lead to racial profiling and is misguided because it doesn't directly tighten border security.

Bolton allowed some portions of the law to take effect, including a ban on blocking traffic when people seek or offer day-labor services on streets, and amendments to existing state immigration laws.

The Justice Department's lawsuit was one of seven filed by organizations and individual to challenge the law. Two of the lawsuits have been dismissed.