AG Holder Going After Arizona

[twyacht]

We knew they would.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20008171-503544.html?tag=stack


Senior Official: Obama Administration Will Challenge Arizona Immigration Law

Updated 3:56 p.m. Eastern Time

As Hotsheet reported yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a television interview in Ecuador this month that the Obama Justice Department "will be bringing a lawsuit" against the controversial Arizona immigration measure signed into law earlier this year.

The comment was striking because both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had said only that the administration was considering a suit. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law, called Clinton's comments stunning and added that "to learn of this lawsuit through an Ecuadorean interview with the secretary of state is just outrageous." She has said in the past she is prepared for a court fight.

It was unclear yesterday whether Clinton's comments were simply a prediction or mistake or whether instead she was getting ahead of a planned announcement by the administration.

Now a senior administration official tells CBS News that the federal government will indeed formally challenge the law when Justice Department lawyers are finished building the case. The official said Justice is still working on building the case.

CBS News polling has found that a majority of Americans support the Arizona law, which has spawned protests and boycotts.
***
Gov. Brewer pretty much said: See you in court.

Poll question at link has 72% against the Admin.'s prosecution of this case....

But,.....

Holder and BHO could care less.

How's that pressure cooker been doing?

[PegLeg45]

We knew they would.

How's that pressure cooker been doing?

Click?

 

[CJS3]

Now a senior administration official tells CBS News that the federal government will indeed formally challenge the law when Justice Department lawyers are finished building the case. The official said Justice is still working on building the case.

I've got a feeling that all BeHo's Harvard educated legal eagles will still be "building the case" when the new president terminates their services in 2013.

[TAB]

I've got a feeling that all BeHo's Harvard educated legal eagles will still be "building the case" when the new president terminates their services in 2013.

I think they are trying to find some thing to actually make a case on... which they have not found yet.

[tombogan03884]

I've got a feeling that all BeHo's Harvard educated legal eagles will still be "building the case" when the new president terminates their services in 2013.

Their services may not be all that gets "terminated" by the new President.

[Sponsor]

[philw]

That AZ Lawsuit On The Way



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/17/white-house-doj-not-denyi_n_616306.html

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's disclosure that the Department of Justice will be filing a suit against Arizona's tough new immigration law is not being denied by either the White House or the Department of Justice itself.

In what appeared to be an unscripted admission, Clinton told Ecuadoran television on Thursday that DoJ, under the direction of the president, "will be bringing a lawsuit against" the Arizona act, which has been sharply criticized in Latin America.

The statement, first reported by the site Right Scoop, was the first overt declaration on the Justice Department's course of action. In late April, President Obama first announced his support for an investigation into Arizona's law, which would grant local law enforcement officials broader powers to detain suspected illegal immigrants. Since then, there have been hearings involving Attorney General Eric Holder but little in the way of explicit action.

Asked about Clinton's remarks, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs urged the Huffington Post to send queries to the DoJ. The department's spokesman, Matt Miller, replied with the following: "The department continues to review the law."

The non-denials are not, of course, confirmations of Clinton's statement. But it's hard to imagine that the Secretary of State is operating off of a different script than the rest of the administration. A suit, of course, would ramp up the debate over immigration reform, suggesting that the White House believes that either the law represents an egregious legal overreach or just smart politics.

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=XdaGQu2GSU

[Pathfinder]

Hitlery says this on foreign TV? Are they afraid of the US press now?

Anyone notice how the US gummint seems to be at war with the states? Suing AZ over a law that is identical to the Federal version, as well as those of other states (e.g. CA), and basically ignoring the plight of the southern states and the oil spill, esp if that state has a (R) governor.

bho is golfing (6-7 golf outings just since the oil spill started less than 2 months ago) and Hayward (not gummint) is yachting.

There was an interesting editorial comment on a news article about bho on Lucianne.com yesterday that I thought was interesting. The comment was "It's almost like this is intentional". It is folks, and it is happening on our watch.   

[PegLeg45]

Ariz. immigration law hearing ends with no ruling

  By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press Writer Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press Writer   – 12 mins ago

PHOENIX – Arizona's impending immigration law went before a federal judge for the first time Thursday, and attorneys for both sides sparred over who had the right to enforce immigration law: local officials or the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton didn't rule on whether to block the law from taking effect July 29, or whether to dismiss the lawsuit, one of seven. Hearings in two other lawsuits — including one filed by the federal government — are set for July 22, and the judge has been careful to give no hints on who she might favor.

At stake is more than just who can detain illegal immigrants within U.S. borders. If Bolton rules in Arizona's favor, it opens the door to states taking on issues that have long been the responsibility of the federal government.

John Bouma, an attorney representing the state, argued Arizona shouldn't have to suffer from the country's broken immigration system when it has 15,000 police officers who can arrest illegal immigrants.

"Just leaving it in the status quo leaves the state of Arizona in economic harm, in irreparable harm, every day," Bouma said, noting the state's steep education and health care costs for illegal immigrants.

But allowing Arizona to carry out its own immigration law violates all court decisions that hold that only the federal government can handle immigration, said Stephen Montoya, an attorney for Phoenix police Officer David Salgado, who filed the lawsuit along with the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.

"The federal government doesn't want this assistance," Montoya said.

More than 25,000 people have donated more than $1.2 million to a fund established in May to help the state pay to defend the law, Gov. Jan Brewer's office said Thursday.

Salgado's attorneys want the judge to block the law before it takes effect, saying it would require an officer to use race as a primary factor in deciding how to enforce it. Supporters insist that officers would not be allowed to question someone based solely on their race.

Attorneys for Brewer told Bolton that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Salgado and the group haven't alleged a real threat of harm from enforcing the new law and instead are basing their claim on speculation.

But Salgado's attorney disagreed.

"He does have a real threat," Montoya said. "They can fire him. That's enough."

Protesters and supporters of the law gathered outside the courthouse, separated by at least seven Phoenix police officers.

About two dozen supporters, many dressed in red, white and blue, held up signs praising Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a major backer of the crackdown on illegal immigrants, and one that said "American Pride."

Larry Templeton, 66, of Sun City, said he came to support the law because he believes in defending states' rights.

"They're saying it's racist. It isn't anti any race, it's anti-criminal," said Templeton, who wore an American flag T-shirt and a hat with American flag buttons.

About 10 feet away, some 30 people opposed to the law held up signs calling for its repeal.

"We demand an injunction. We demand a federal intervention," opponent Sandra Castro of Phoenix, 22, yelled into a bullhorn.

The law requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question a person's immigration status if officers have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

Montoya said the U.S. Department of Justice's separate challenge to the Arizona law bolsters his clients' argument that the state law is unconstitutional. Both lawsuits contend the state law intrudes on the federal government's constitutional authority to set and enforce immigration policy and regulation.

"That's one more opinion," Bouma said. "The fact that they brought the claim doesn't mean they are correct."

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, whose office normally defends state laws in courts, bowed to a demand by Brewer and withdrew last month as the state's lawyer in the challenges, leaving Brewer's attorneys to defend the law. Brewer and Goddard are both running for governor this year.

The Republican governor complained that the Democratic attorney general had raised doubts about his ability to defend it. Goddard said Brewer's threat to have him removed would be an expensive fight for the state.

The large ceremonial courtroom at the main federal courthouse in Phoenix was packed with more than 100 spectators as the hearing began. More than a dozen lawyers were in place along two L-shaped tables, evenly divided between each side. The jury box was filled with law clerks for judges who work in the building who came to observe.

Since Brewer signed the measure into law April 23, it has inspired rallies in Arizona and elsewhere by advocates on both sides of the immigration debate. Some opponents have advocated a tourism boycott of Arizona.

It also led an unknown number of illegal immigrants to leave Arizona for other American states or their home countries and prompted the Obama administration to file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the law.

The other challenges to the law were filed by the civil rights organizations, clergy groups, a researcher from Washington and a Tucson police officer.

Arpaio, the sheriff known for housing inmates in tents in the desert, said he has vacant spots in the tents for about 1,000 prisoners and is willing to add more to house illegal immigrants convicted under the law.

"I will handle as many as comes in," Arpaio said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_immigration_arizona_lawsuit;_ylt=Ap9t4f9_YN0T4QTfoWk_IrxH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTNqOG9wbXA3BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNzE1L3VzX2ltbWlncmF0aW9uX2FyaXpvbmFfbGF3c3VpdARjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzYEcG9zAzYEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNhcml6aW1taWdyYXQ-

[tombogan03884]

That's BS.
The Constitution, which none of these azzholes seems familiar with, gives Congress the power to set immigration Law, it says nothing about enforcement.