Arizona Immigration Law Still a 'Powerful Deterrent,' Supporters Say

It was sure promising last Friday when judge bolton seemed to be interested in doing the right thing in Arizona. As it turns out, she only wanted to do half of the right thing. It's too bad that this will have to drag out even longer. obama and his gang of thugs have no interest in securing the border and only want to act as a deterrent to those who have the balls to address the issue.

Part of the law is better than none of the law. I don't get the issue with immigrants being required to have their documentation on their person. Think about it a second, we are all required to have our drivers license on us when operating a vehicle or we get a ticket. We are required to have our proof of insurance, or again, we get a ticket. How is requiring people to have their documents against the law?

john mccain weighed in on the issue. Until this became a National issue, an election issue, where was he? In 2007 he was working with ted kennedy on an amnesty bill. While it was a big deal then, border security is a huge issue now, as we all know. mccain has shifted his views with the political winds. Or maybe he is so freaking old that he can't remember what his views were three years ago.

The Arizona attorney general, terry goddard, had to put his two cents worth in. As far as I can tell, from the outside looking in, he is a part of the problem, not the solution. I haven't seen or heard anything out of the guy except criticism of Jan Brewer. Maybe he should quit bitching about her and come up with a better plan to secure the border. Oh, wait, he's a democrat, he probably just wants to give all the illegal aliens amnesty and leave our border wide open to any thugs, criminals and scumbags that want to enter. Maybe mr. goddard should take a look at the number of people who support what Jan Brewer is doing. Maybe he should think about doing what the citizens of his State want done, secure the border...

From FoxNews

While opponents of Arizona's strict immigration law are claiming victory in a federal ruling Wednesday that blocked most of the crackdown hours before its enactment, there's still plenty left in the state legislation that supporters are cheering.

As the case is litigated, Arizona will be able to block state officials from so-called "sanctuary city" policies limiting enforcement of federal law; require that state officials work with federal officials on illegal immigration; allow civil suits over sanctuary cities; and to make it a crime to pick up day laborers.

"We have a big problem with day laborers standing on the street disrupting traffic, disrupting communities, scaring people, and that part of the law withstood constitutionality," Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh told Fox News. "We'll be able to clean up that mess."

Kavanagh also praised the other sections of the law that were not blocked.

"I think it is a powerful deterrent effect and this is not going to be settled for years," he said. "So while we might not have as strong a deterrent as we had yesterday, it is still something for illegals to think about when they are looking for places to go."

A spokesman for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said the state will appeal Judge Susan Bolton's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday, asking the appellate court to lift the injunction and allow the blocked provisions to take effect. The appeal will ask the 9th Circuit to act quickly, Paul Senseman said.

State Senator Russell Pearce, the law's chief author, said he likes that the state will be able enforce a provision that bars local governments from limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws.

"Striking down these sanctuary city policies has always been the No. 1 priority," he said.

Pearce said that part of Bolton's ruling removes what he calls "political handcuffs" from law enforcement officers whose superiors put restraints on their enforcement of immigration laws. He predicted the battle over the law would eventually end up in the Supreme Court, with Arizona prevailing.

"We will appeal this immediately and we will win on appeal," he told the Arizona Republic. "This will be to the Supreme Court eventually, and I expect a 5-4 decision in our favor, perhaps even 6-3."

The remaining provisions, many of them procedural and revisions to an Arizona immigration statute, will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Still, many supporters were not pleased that the judge blocked the most controversial sections of the law. The partial injunction prevents Arizona from requiring police officers to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest. It also strikes down the provision making it a crime not to carry immigration registration papers and the provision that makes it a crime for an illegal immigrant to seek or perform work.

"We are deeply disappointed that she views that the enforcement of law would impose a burden on the federal government," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Fox News. "The federal government is supposed to carry out its responsibilities of securing our borders. It's really disappointing."

"I think key provisions have been removed. Let's be honest about it," he said. "But also, the upshot of this is we gotta get the border secured. … Rather than wasting their time on all of this court stuff, all they had to do was give us the assets necessary to get our borders secured."

U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, R-Ariz., said the ruling should not give Washington any kind of excuse not to address immigration.

"There are no victors today, except those who want to use this protracted litigation as a means to grandstand and score political points, instead of actually rolling up their sleeves and getting to work to help fix the problem," he said in a written statement."

"I believe that if the new state law spurs Washington to act, then it is a good thing," he said. "But make no mistake: neither the state law, nor the lawsuit to overturn it – nor today's temporary injunction – will fix the problem, secure our border, or fix a broken immigration system."

To Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told KTAR.com that the ruling is not a "defeat by any means."

"We will still do what we have been doing for the past three years," he said in response to the ruling. "On employer sanction state law, on human smuggling state law," he said.

But the decision was seen as a defeat for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who is running for another term in November and has seen her political fortunes rise because of the law's popularity among conservatives.

She has vowed to take the case "all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary."

But her opponent, state Attorney General Terry Goddard, pounced.

"Jan Brewer played politics with immigration, and she lost," the Democrat said. "It is time to look beyond election-year grandstanding and begin to repair the damage to Arizona's image and economy."