Statement of Familia Latina Unida on the Supreme Court Arizona decision

Statement of Familia Latina Unida

June 26, 2012
The Supreme Court Decision strikes down most of the hated Arizona law. It stated strongly that immigration policy was in the hands of the federal government-not the states.

It left in place – and undecided – the part of the law that allows local police to ask people for papers if people are stopped for some other reason. The court said that local law enforcement would do this because they were invited to do this by the federal government, referencing the Obama administration 287g and secure communities program. The court said it would have to see how the “show your papers” worked in practice – if it showed racial profiling, if it resulted in incarceration or harassment that exceeded federal actions.

What do we think: The court puts the issue of enforcement squarely in the hands of the federal government. As we have said before, the atrocities in Arizona were brought about by the Obama administration’s 287g policy. We lost that challenge to the law because the Obama administration had provided federal cover for what they were doing - as we said all along. The court clearly said that future challenges to the show your papers part of the law could be made once the law was put into effect.

We call again for an end to the 287g program and the secure communities program which enable racial profiling, especially in states like Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina.

We call on the Obama Administation, at a minimum, to immediately establish a commission to monitor and receive complaints of racial profiling and civil rights violations which, after all, emanate from federal policies. We will continue to challenge racial profiling in immigration enforcement everywhere we find it – in the courts and in the streets.