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Federal Court Upholds Arizona ‘Paper’ Provision

United States District Judge Susan R. Bolton, a federal judge, denied a request Wednesday to block the “show me your papers” provision in Arizona’s immigration law. The Arizona law allows law enforcement officials in the state to request proof of legal immigration, residency, or citizenship of anyone they suspect might be an illegal immigrant.

Her ruling is in accordance with the U.S Supreme Court decision in June 2012 that upheld the requirement that police must check the papers of anyone suspected to be undocumented.

In 2010, US District Judge Susan Bolton ruled against multiple sections of the Arizona law, including the requirement that police check the immigration status of criminal suspects that they had stopped while enforcing other laws and a provision that would make it a crime not to carry immigration papers.

Bolton’s latest action concerned immigration reform activists. Alessandra Soler, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said in a statement, “Once this ‘show me your papers’ provision goes into effect, racial profiling will become rampant statewide…and we intend to ramp up our reporting and litigation efforts to seek justice on behalf of the victims of police abuse.”

Media Resources: CNN 9/6/12, Feminist Newswire 6/25/12, 7/29/10, 5/18/10

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