Confusion

Arizona Police Unsure of Role

After Supreme Court upholds controversial law.

Arizona police, who hoped that the Supreme Court ruling might clarify what role they should play in immigration enforcement, were left sorely disappointed on Monday. The Supreme Court upheld the state’s “show me your papers” law, but struck down laws that would allow local police to arrest people for federal immigration violations and to detain those who do not have proper immigration documents. In the city of Tucson alone, the ruling is expected to result in an additional 50,000 calls a year to federal immigration authorities. And police have been left unclear on how to proceed when immigration authorities fail to respond or even what justifies suspicion that someone is in the country illegally. To make matters even more unclear, White House officials announced that the federal government will not enforce the “show me your papers” law.