Brookings Scholar Predicts Arizona Lawsuit Will Fail

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Darrel West, the Director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, predicted Wednesday that the lawsuit filed recently by the Justice Department against Arizona will likely fail.

“The Justice Department claims that states can’t make immigration policy when in fact states have been passing immigration laws for decades,” West said during an afternoon Webchat. “I don’t think the courts will buy the idea that only the federal government can make immigration policy.”

Explained West, “In the 19th century, Southern states limited migration to their states based on race and property. California tried to exclude the Chinese in the late 19th century. And governors today sign all sorts of immigration laws.” 

The Department’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday, was a reaction to Arizona’s new hard-line immigration policy, which allows law enforcement officials to request proof of citizenship from those suspected to be in the country illegally. Critics have charged that the law will ultimately lead to racial profiling and threaten public safety by allowing the public’s trust in police to erode.

The lawsuit is based on the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which dictates that legislation passed at a state level cannot trump federal law.

Although West stated that he does not believe the lawsuit will be effective, he noted that the law was far from ideal.

“The new Arizona law creates more problems that it solves,” West said.