Lawyers for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and the U.S. Justice Department will face off before a panel of federal appeals court judges in San Francisco today over the fate of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.
Key parts of the law, known as SB 1070, including a provision that would allow police to arrest and detain suspected illegal immigrants based on “reasonable suspicion,” were ruled unconstitutional by District Court Judge Susan Bolton in July and blocked from taking effect.
The three-judge panel now will decide whether all or parts of the law should be reinstated or struck down. The case ultimately could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department, which brought the case against Arizona in July, have argued the law violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution.
In her ruling, Judge Bolton agreed, ruling that enforcement of the most contentious provisions of the law would preempt the federal government’s exclusive authority to set and implement a national immigration policy.