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ACLU Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law

Class-action suit hits 'shameful, un-American' law

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted May 18, 2010 2:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – The ACLU and several other civil rights groups yesterday sued Arizona over what one lawyer calls the state's "shameful, un-American" immigration law. The federal class-action suit charges that Arizona's law is unconstitutional, will lead to widespread racial profiling, and violates the free-speech rights of day laborers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"Arizona’s law is quintessentially un-American. We are not a ‘show me your papers’ country, nor one that believes in subjecting people to harassment, investigation and arrest simply because others may perceive them as foreign," an attorney with the ACLU's immigrants’ Rights Project said in a statement. The suit seeks to have a federal judge declare the law unconstitutional and block Arizona county sheriffs from enforcing it.

Immigrant rights activists and community leaders protest Arizona's immigration enforcement law outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Los Angeles.
Immigrant rights activists and community leaders protest Arizona's immigration enforcement law outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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This law is shameful, un-American. It will undermine public safety and it is unconstitutional. - ACLU attorney Lucas Guttentag

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 48 comments
iluvtheusa
May 22, 2010 4:32 PM CDT
We are all in the midst of government tom-foolery. They love it when we argue. It seems obvious to me that our gov has some sort of 'agreement' with Mexico that they haven't, and won't, tell the citizens about. They want us to pay for the importation and care of Mexico's people, even at a time we we are at the edge of financial collapse. The reasoning for this is so upside-down that I can't make sense of it. The display by the Mexican president while here in the US was one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen. What the heck is going on? Why is our government allowing this to happen? That's the question we need to answer.
guvner
May 18, 2010 11:42 PM CDT
Well of course the ACLU is jumping all over this, it was only a matter of when. Did anyone in their right mind expect this administration to take legal initiative against AZ?? Obama voted "present" on this issue from the beginning, and both he and AG Holder are breathing a big sigh of relief now that the pressure for immediate action is off.
Snarfeh
May 18, 2010 11:27 PM CDT
Here we go...conservatards will bitch about the ACLU until they need it themselves. Do you dumbasses even know the ACLU has helped conservatards? Ollie North, Rush Limpdick and other conservatards have had the pleasure of being defended by the ACLU. Check out this book: ISBN 1-57392-143-2 Paper or this link: http://www.hutch.demon.co.uk/p...

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