"I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down
major provisions of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 on federal preemption grounds.
Today’s ruling appropriately bars the State of Arizona from effectively
criminalizing unlawful status in the state and confirms the federal
government’s exclusive authority to regulate in the area of immigration.
While I am pleased the Court confirmed the serious constitutional
questions the government raised regarding Section 2, I remain concerned
about the impact of Section 2, which requires law enforcement officials
to verify the immigration status of any person lawfully stopped or
detained when they have reason to suspect that the person is here
unlawfully.
As the Court itself recognized, Section 2 is not a license
to engage in racial profiling and I want to assure communities around
this country that the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously
enforce federal prohibitions against racial and ethnic discrimination.
We will closely monitor the impact of S.B. 1070 to ensure compliance
with federal immigration law and with applicable civil rights laws,
including ensuring that law enforcement agencies and others do not
implement the law in a manner that has the purpose or effect of
discriminating against the Latino or any other community.
We will also work to ensure that the verification provision does not
divert police officers away from traditional law enforcement efforts in
order to enforce federal immigration law, potentially impairing local
policing efforts and discouraging crime victims, including children of
non-citizens, victims of domestic violence, and asylum seekers, from
reporting abuses and crimes out of fear of detention or deportation.
We
will continue to use every federal resource to protect the safety and
civil rights of all Americans.”
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