State Sen. Russell Pearce reacts to the news that the Ninth Circuit has upheld federal Judge Susan Bolton’s decision to block enforcement of most of SB 1070, the immigration law passed last year by the Arizona Legislature:
No one who follows the judiciary should be surprised by today’s ruling of a federal appeals court to refuse to lift a stay blocking parts of SB 1070 from taking effect. When Judge Bolton issued her injunction last July, I cautioned people that the 9th Circuit may do just this. The liberal makeup of the panel makes decisions like this utterly predictable.
In addition, the court is the most overturned in the nation.
The basis for today’s split decision is flawed. If Congress wanted to pre-empt the states from enforcing laws, it would have used its plenary powers. There has never been a pre-emption of states’ authority to enforce immigration laws.
SB 1070 is constitutionally sound, and that will be proven when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up this case and makes the proper ruling. With Judge Bolton’s ruling last week to allow the Legislature to intervene, I will now have a seat at the table to help make that case
This battle is a battle of epic proportions. It is about a state’s right to enforce the laws of this land and protect its citizens from those who break our laws.
Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers has a different spin:
The Pima County Democratic Party applauds the Federal Appeals Court ruling that Arizona’s reckless immigration law, SB 1070, is unconstitutional. It’s the federal government’s job to enforce federal immigration law, just as the Border Patrol is prohibited from enforcing state law. What’s worse, it’s a cynical law written specifically to harass the law-abiding Latino community. We urge Congress and the president to finally tackle federal immigration reform in a way that fixes the problem, rather than simply fixing blame. It’s up to Washington D.C., to secure the border, punish businesses for hiring illegal immigrants and provide a path to legal status for those here now, contributing to our society.
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2011.
Judge Noonan, in the majority is usually seen as a conservative, but very thoughtful and careful judge. Judge Paez, who wrote the majority decision, is usually seen as a moderate to liberal judge. Judge Carlos Bea, who agreed with the majority in upholding the stay on two sections of SB1070 and disagreed on two other sections is probably the most conservative jurist on the 9th Circuit. So, as usual, Russell Pearce doesn’t have his facts right. Keep wasting money Russell. If you can only partially convince one of the most wild-eyed conservatives on the court, you’re probably not standing on very firm legal ground.
On another note, the majority opinion basically makes fun of the ridiculous arguments of Brewer, Pearce and AZ in favor of SB 1070.