Thoughts on U.S. v. State of Arizona & Brewer

Well, surprise surprise. The Obama Administration is suing Arizona and Governor Brewer over SB 1070.


As with SB 1070, I have printed out and read the complaint put forward by the federal government.

I am underwhelmed.

The feds argue that Arizona's immigration law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint reads, "In our constitutional system, the federal government has preeminent authority to regulate immigration matters."

Well, the key word here is "preeminent." There's a world difference in stating the federal government has preminent authority than stating the federal government has "sole" or "exclusive" authority. So methinks the Supremacy Clause isn't germane to this argument. It certainly isn't germane to the argument made in the complaint. To wit:

If allowed to go into effect S.B. 1070's mandatory enforcement scheme will conflict with and undermine the federal government's careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives. For example, it will impose significant and counterproductive burdens on the federal agencies charged with enforcing the national immigration scheme, diverting resources and attention from the dangerous aliens who the federal government targets as its top enforcement priority.

That, folks, is a political argument. It is also an administrative and logistical argument. But it is not a constitutional argument. Arizona's policies aren't unconstitutional just because the Obama Administration disagrees with them. Nor are they unconstitutional due to potential inconveniences that may arise for the federal government:

Section 3 - the enforcement of which S.B. 1070 effectively mandates through operation of Section 2's alien inspection and verification regime - demands the arrest and prosecution of all aliens who do not have certain enumerated registration documents. But several classes of aliens who are eligible for humanitarian relief are simply not provided with registration documents while their status is being adjudicated by the federal government notwithstanding the federal government's knowledge that these aliens are present in the country.

So is it Arizona's fault the federal government doesn't provide registration documents to certain classes of aliens? If anything it demonstrates the lack of due diligence on the part of the federal government. Once more the Obama Adminitration presents us with an administrative argument, not a constitutional one.

Now it is not inconceivable to me that an activist judge on a lower court might reverse the law. But I can't see the Supreme Court upholding such a decision. In which case, the Supremes can expect another tongue lashing by President Obama at next year's State of the Union.