Story first appeared in ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Kansas hasn’t adopted an Arizona-like immigration law, but several current and former elected officials from Kansas have chosen sides as the issue goes before the U.S. Supreme Court. Immigration Lawyers in Raleigh have been following the case.
The court will hear arguments April 25 in the legal battle between the state of Arizona and the federal government over the immigration law known as Senate Bill 1070.
A Republican who before being elected Kansas secretary of state gained national attention by pushing tough anti-immigration laws, helped write SB 1070. The measure was adopted by the Arizona Legislature and enacted by the Governor in 2010.
The law contained a number of controversial provisions that are now front and center before the Supreme Court.
One of the most controversial laws requires local police in Arizona to determine the immigration status of anyone stopped if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.
The Justice Department says regulating immigration is the job of the federal government, not the states. Officials in Arizona, a state bordering Mexico, say the feds haven’t done their jobs and that is one of the reasons for SB 1070.
In addition to legal briefs from the specific parties in the case, the Supreme Court has received approximately 40 legal briefs from others who support and oppose SB 1070, according to a report completed by the Immigration Policy Center, a nonpartisan group whose mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration.
Kansas is one of 16 states that have signed on in support of SB 1070. That decision was made by Kansas Attorney General, a Republican. His office says he supports preserving powers of states to promote public safety. His office said Kansas has not spent any money in the litigation.
The man whom the Kansas Attorney General defeated for office in 2010, a Democrat, has joined a group of more than 40 former attorneys general, who have filed a legal brief opposing SB 1070. A Republican who served as Kansas attorney general from 1979 to 1995, has also signed on in opposition.
They argue that SB 1070 makes citizens less safe. By turning local police into immigration agents and inviting racial profiling, the law undermines the necessary trust in communities that police must have to carry out their duties, the former attorneys general say.
On the federal level, two Kansas U.S. Reps. have joined 54 other Republican members of Congress in a legal brief supporting the Arizona law.
The Justice Department, however, has argued that SB 1070 will make matters worse. Requiring local law enforcement to investigate all suspected illegal immigrants diverts time and resources from higher priority criminal cases committed by non-citizens, it argues.
For more law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
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