Happy Day for Patriots; Sour Grapes for Losers: Supreme Court Upholds S.B. 1070’s Key Provision

In a huge triumph for the patriotic immigration reform movement, today the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the portion of Arizona’s S.B 1070 that allows law enforcement officers to check a detainee’s  immigration status if there’s “reasonable suspicion” he is in the United States illegally. In an 8-0 unanimous opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the judges rejected immigration advocates often made claim that S.B. 1070 leads to racial profiling.

The other side took its bitter defeat hard even though it had been widely anticipated. The Sacramento Bee, representing the mainstream media’s consensus anti-S.B. 1070 position, published an Associated Press story which it misleadingly titled High Court Rejects Part of Arizona Immigration Law. While it’s true that part of S.B. 1070 was not upheld—namely the attempt to make it a misdemeanor for an alien to apply for a job or to fail to carry identification—the Justices agreed with the bill’s key provision that requires, under certain circumstances, proof of immigration status. [High Court Rejects Part of Arizona Immigration Law, by Mark Sherman, Associated Press, June 25, 2012]

The immigrant advocacy group “Reform Immigration for America” continued to spread blatant lies about S.B. 1070 which it and other similar organizations refer to as the “show me your papers” bill. Guess what? The groups promise to organize huge protest demonstrations.

Racial profiling in any form is expressly prohibited in the bill’s language. From the majority opinion with my emphasis added:

"Three limits are built into the state provision. First, a detainee is presumed not to be an alien unlawfully present in the United States if he or she provides a valid Arizona driver’s license or similar identification. Second, officers “may not consider race, color or national origin . . . except to the extent permitted by the United States [and] Arizona Constitution[s].” Third, the provisions must be “implemented in a manner consistent with federal law regulating immigration, protecting the civil rights of all persons and respecting the privileges and immunities of United States citizens.”’

Read the opinion here.

In her curiously vague and defiant statement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised that in light of the Court’s decision “DHS will implement operational enhancements to its programs in Arizona to ensure that the agency can remain focused on its priorities.” Napolitano added ominously that the Supreme Court’s decision “will not impact the memorandum I issued on June 15^th related to the prosecutorial discretion eligibility for productive members of society who were brought to the United States as children.”

Marilyn DeYoung, Californians for Population Stabilization Chairman of the Board, applauded the decision which she says will give states another tool to fight illegal immigration and to “overcome the abysmal failure of the federal government to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.” The Supreme Court had previously ruled to uphold mandatory E-Verify to insure that jobs go to legally authorized workers.

For the open borders crowd, it’s sour grapes. But for patriots, today is a happy day a long time in coming.