By Chad Brand
Congressional Quarterly
WASHINGTON DC — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vowed Wednesday to take the fight over her state’s new law targeting illegal immigrants all the way to the Supreme Court.
Brewer, a Republican, said she was “disappointed” in U.S. District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton’s ruling blocking the implementation of a number of the controversial law’s provisions, and lashed out against those who have protested against the measure.
“We will take a close look at every single element Judge Bolton removed from the law, and we will soon file an expedited appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit,” she said. At another point, she added that she “will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona. Meanwhile, I also know we still have work to do in confronting the fear-mongers, those dealing in hate and lies and economic boycotts that seek to do Arizona harm.”
The impact of Bolton’s decision has reverberated through Congress, with GOP lawmakers reacting negatively, Roll Call reported. Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl issued a joint statement taking issue with Bolton and calling for the federal government to implement the “Ten Point Border Security Plan” they announced in April.
Earlier this month, Republican Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and David Vitter of Louisiana announced an amendment to a pending small business bill (HR 5297) that would block the Justice Department from pursing its lawsuit against Arizona.
GOP appropriators in the House made a similar attempt to block the Obama administration from challenging the law. Democrats defeated 5-8 an amendment to the fiscal 2011 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill to bar funding to the Justice Department for legal proceedings against Arizona, CQ reported.
Looming in the background of the Arizona law discussion in President Obama’s promise to push for an overhaul immigration policy. With the November elections approaching and so many political hurdles blocking the issue, comprehensive legislation is almost certainly off the table this year, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has expressed a willingness to take a scaled back approach to the issue, CQ reported.
Reid is open to considering two bills: one, known popularly as the DREAM Act, would provide legal status to young people brought to the country illegally who join the military or attend college (S 729); the other would and reform agriculture guest worker laws (S 1038). Reid has made immigration into a legislative priority. He recently stated that he would be open to seeing movement on the DREAM Act before the fall elections, where he will face off against conservative Republican Sharron Angle in a contest where the Hispanic voting bloc is seen as crucial, CQ reported.
The Economist views the debate between supporters and critics of Arizona’s immigration law as being merely political at both the state and federal level.
In May, the Congressional Research Service released its latest analysis of immigration-related legislation in the 111th Congress.
Border Security
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement supporting Bolton’s ruling and indicating that federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the 1,200 National Guard troops set for an Aug. 1 deployment to the border will enforce federal immigration law. Earlier this month the department announced additional personnel would be sent to Southwest border states as part of its latest efforts to bolster border security.
The House passed a bill (HR 5875) Wednesday that would add about $700 million in border security funding (view summary). The money was originally in the fiscal 2010 war supplemental bill (HR 4899), but was removed by the Senate.
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