Fernando Gonzales-Portillo: ‘I’m personally outraged’ Over Law Leading to Racial Profiling

Over the past couple of months, Arizona has been at the center of public debate regarding illegal Arizona Senate Bill 10-70. For those unfamiliar with this bill, basically it makes it a state crime for an undocumented person to be here in the U.S., including the possibility of jail time for offenders.


READ THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEBATE HERE

Furthermore, the Arizona immigration law lets police officers stop and detain people suspected of being illegal aliens. According to the law, people are supposed to carry their papers proving their legal residence. Though people cannot be “jailed” for not having papers, they can be “detained” until they provide paperwork to prove their legality. Police must use “probable cause” to question someone’s legal residence in the U.S.

Recently, after a few months of studying the law, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona challenging SB 10-70’s constitutionality. Now I could go on and have a long winded essay, picking apart everything wrong with this law, but I’m going to focus on the right of the federal government to file this lawsuit.

Arizona is one of the fifty states in the U.S. and since they are a state they do not have jurisdiction to deal with foreign affairs. As Judge Andrew Napolitano put so well, Arizona gave up the right to deal with immigration and foreign affairs when they decided to join the U.S. This law that was passed is a direct violation Amendment X of the Constitution, where states do not have the power to pass laws pertaining to issues that are specifically granted to the Federal Government. Article I, Section 8 and Section 10 specifically express the federal government’s jurisdiction on foreign affairs and prohibit states from dealing with any foreign affairs.

More importantly, the 14th Amendment of the Constitution grants the federal government the power to step in — when under the discretion of the federal government — states are passing laws that are discriminatory and/or unequal. This amendment is what helped the federal government stop some of the ridiculous voting laws that the South used against African Americans and also challenge Jim Crow laws and other segregation laws in America’s past. This amendment is also known as the Equal Protection and Equal rights Amendment where it states that the bill of rights also apply to State laws.

Before, the Supreme Court held the belief that the Bill of Rights only applied to federal laws but with this amendment, individual rights were guaranteed protection from both state and federal laws. SB 10-70 violates rights in our Bill of Right, specifically Amendment IV and V, giving the federal government more evidence to challenge the law in the federal court system.

As a former resident of Arizona, living in Tucson for 5 years, I’m personally outraged at the law and fully support the lawsuit of the federal government. A law that leads to racial profiling, requires people to carry their paperwork, and prohibit federal agencies from passing regulations that would restrict this state law is clearly unconstitutional.

More states are considering passing laws similar to Arizona’s law and this can lead to having the possibility of having 50 different immigration policies, instead of one national standard. As mentioned above, the federal government has the authority on immigration matters and states creating their own laws undermine the authority of the federal government.

Article VI specifically state that “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” Thus federal laws are the supreme law of the land and that no state law can supersede it. SB 10-70 is a blatant violation of the supremacy clause. Finally, upholding the Arizona law will effectively erase the supremacy class, mortally wound the legitimacy of the federal government, setting up bad precedent, and giving free reign for states to pass laws that contradict federal laws.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HHqiWsoXj0
To further understand the implication of this lawsuit, Constitutional Scholar, former federal prosecutor and New Jersey Judge Andrew Napolitano summarizes the constitutionality of SB 10-70 perfectly.