PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called it “a victory for the rule of law.” But for police chiefs, Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the so-called “show me your papers” provision of SB 1070, the state’s immigration law, looks like a big headache.
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called it “a victory for the rule of law.” But for police chiefs, Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the so-called “show me your papers” provision of SB 1070, the state’s immigration law, looks like a big headache.
Arizona may now require officers to ask for proof of legal status of people they stop for other reasons and suspect to be in the country illegally. State law enforcement officials said the decision immediately made the job of Arizona’s street cops much more complicated, requiring them to conduct traffic stops and other activities with a new level of public scrutiny.
Critics have said the new police authority could lead to racial profiling. Obama administration officials, who had publicly dismissed the law as unconstitutional, warned it would be watching closely for federal civil rights violations.
With officers across Arizona forced to walk a tightrope of legal complexity, cash-strapped municipalities also worry they could soon be defending a flurry of lawsuits by the federal government, civil rights activists and irate motorists — distracting police from their main goal of fighting crime.
“We absolutely expect lawsuits on both sides of this issue,” said Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor. “This will result in our officers being tied up in court rather than working on the streets to reduce crime.”
John Bennett, president of the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, said he expects “bumps in the road” in executing the new law.
“On the street, who knows what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re going to enforce this law. There may be problems, but no matter what you do as a police department, you’re always subject to litigation.”
While the court gave the go-ahead to a key provision of Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, it also warned state law enforcement could not hold people for extended periods merely for not having proper immigration papers.
Within hours of the high court’s ruling Monday, Brewer emphasized police immigration checks based on reasonable suspicion during legal stops was now the law of the land in her state.
“We will move forward instructing law enforcement to begin practicing what the United States Supreme Court has upheld,” she said, adding Arizona officers would be responsible in their actions. “Civil rights will be protected. Racial profiling will not be tolerated.”
But the federal government put Arizona officials on notice Washington would not tolerate the state’s enforcement of the new law “in a manner that has the purpose or effect of discriminating against the Latino or any other community,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Holder also expressed concern that Arizona’s law would discourage crime victims such as victims of domestic abuse or asylum seekers from contacting police out of fear of detention or deportation. “We will continue to use every federal resource to protect the safety and civil rights of all Americans,” Holder said.