Fox
News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano believes that a controversial
Arizona anti-illegal immigration law could be tied up in court for years.
The Judge
told Fox News host Gregg Jarrett that he expects a federal court to enjoin a
law that requires people to prove their residency if stopped by police.
Several civil rights groups
filed suit against the Arizona law Monday morning. They allege that the law encourages
racial profiling, and endangers public safety and betrays American values.
They include the American Civil
Liberties Union, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National
Immigration Law Center, National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Asian Pacific American
Legal Center. Theirs will be the fifth lawsuit challenging the law, which is
scheduled to go into effect July 29.
After
a huge outcry with the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law’s passage, it was
modified in an attempt to prevent racial profiling. "A law enforcement
official... may NOT solely consider race, color, or national origin. A person
is presumed NOT to be an alien who is unlawfully present", the new language reads.
Napolitano
says this language will not be enough to prevent racial profiling. "You
know how police can find a pretext to stop someone," Napolitano told
Jarrett.
“They
may really believe that the person is an illegal immigrant who doesn't belong
here. They have to find some way to have the lawful contact so they can so they
can get to the illegal immigrant," explained Napolitano.
It
could be as simple as "I looked at him and he looked the other way,"
according to the Fox legal analyst.
"The
basis for a lawful contact, the threshold is so low and so easy to achieve.
That's the fear," said Napolitano.
"Will
all cops do that? No. Will some cops do that? Probably," he suggested.
Based
on that, Napolitano believes a court will at least temporarily block the law.
"I think a federal court will enjoin it -- stop it from being enforced and
then litigate the issue," he said.
"It
could take years," Napolitano and Jarrett both agreed.
No comments:
Post a Comment