A federal judge ruled
Wednesday that Arizona authorities can enforce the most contentious
section of the state's immigration law, which critics have dubbed the
"show me your papers" provision.
The ruling by
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton clears the way for police to carry out
the 2010 law's requirement that officers, while enforcing other laws,
question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country
illegally.
The requirement has been at the
center of a two-year legal battle that culminated in a U.S. Supreme
Court decision in June upholding the requirement.
Opponents
then asked Bolton to block the requirement, arguing that it would lead
to systematic racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions of
Latinos if it's enforced.
Lawyers for Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer urged the judge to let the requirement go into effect,
saying the law's opponents were merely speculating in their racial
profiling claims, that police have received training to avoid
discriminatory practices and that officers must have "reasonable
suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally to trigger the
requirement.
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