UPDATE 1- Arizona appeals ruling on state's immigration law

Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:13pm EDT

(Adds Arizona governor comment, details)

PHOENIX, July 29 (Reuters) - Arizona lodged an appeal on Thursday seeking to lift a judge's ruling blocking key parts of the state's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, the governor's office said.

Lawyers for Governor Jan Brewer and Arizona asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to lift a preliminary injunction blocking parts of the law, known as SB 1070, and sought to expedite consideration of the state's appeal.

U.S. District Court judge Susan Bolton on Wednesday granted an injunction against the most controversial elements, which had drawn wide popular support in this state bordering Mexico.

"Today I filed an expedited appeal with the Ninth Circuit asking the court to lift the injunction put in place by Judge Bolton yesterday against certain provisions of SB 1070 and to allow those provisions to go into effect pending a decision on the merits of this case," Brewer said in a statement.

"I have also asked the Ninth Circuit to expedite the briefing schedule and its ruling, since Congress and the President have once again failed to act," she added.

The Republican-controlled state legislature passed the law three months ago to try to drive nearly half a million illegal immigrants out of Arizona, and stem the flow of human and drug smugglers over the border from Mexico.

Tensions over the law have inflamed a national debate over immigration, which has festered for decades and promises to play into the elections in November, when President Barack Obama's Democrats are fighting to retain control of Congress.

There are an estimated 10.8 million illegal immigrants in the United States, a country of more than 300 million people.

Police arrested at least 30 protesters who took to the streets of Phoenix on Thursday to protest the law, even though its most intrusive provisions had already been blocked by a U.S. court

(Writing by Tim Gaynor; Reporting by David Schwartz, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Comments (3)
Jer1782 wrote:
If some radical group knocks down a building with an airplane Our Democratic leaders get all up in arms… but if 10 million illegal immigrants slowly, like cancer, slowly weaken America by stealing our resources, jobs, and freedoms. Not to mention earning money in this country and sending it to another to strengthen their economy and weaken ours…. When will our government get the balls of Arizona and stand up to defend this country?

Jul 29, 2010 5:03pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
tonyherrera wrote:
@Jer1782

I know! Native Americans feel exactly the same way as you about the European invaders.

Jul 29, 2010 5:55pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Krinkala wrote:
It doesn’t seem to matter whether a Republican or a Democrat is in the White House when it comes to border policy. But the time has come to fix this problem. Yes, the states should not supercede the role of the federal government. But that means that the federal government needs to step up and take charge of our borders. You can’t leave it to the border patrol, which does not or will not do the job, or apparently not the national guard. Go high tech with surveillance and bring the Army down and round them up as they cross over or tunnel in. Send them back as fast as they come in until they get the message. If the federal government isn’t willing to do the job, then the states need to sue the federal government for the financial toll it is costing their state. Even if that didn’t work, cities could help fix the problem. The cities across this nation should stop giving permits to businesses who hire illegal aliens. And the public should boycott companies who hire illegal aliens. There should be no place an illegal alien should be able to get a job. We, as citizens, could bring a class action against the federal government for jobs lost to illegal immigrants and against city and state governments for turning a blind eye to the law. No more safe havens!

Jul 29, 2010 6:10pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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