In the first courtroom showdown over Arizona’s new immigration law, an attorney for a Phoenix police officer asked a federal judge Thursday to halt the implementation of much of the statute, saying it undermined the ability of the federal government to set foreign policy.
“We have only one nation; we can only have one immigration law,” attorney Stephen Montoya argued in a courtroom packed with more than 100 spectators. “Even though the state of Arizona believes Congress is not very competent and is inept, the state of Arizona has to live with the laws of Congress.”
The law, set to take effect July 29 unless U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton stops it, requires police to investigate the immigration status of people they lawfully stop and have reason to believe are in the country illegally. It also makes it a crime in Arizona to lack immigration documents.
Bolton took the matter under advisement after a two-hour hearing and gave no indication when she would issue a decision. She is scheduled to hear similar arguments July 22 in lawsuits filed by civil rights groups and the Obama administration.
