Arizona Loses Appeal On Day Laborer Provision
PHOENIX -- A federal appeals court has ruled Arizona cannot enforce yet another section of its immigration enforcement law, SB 1070.
The provision makes it unlawful for day laborers to solicit work in a way that impedes traffic, or for people to block traffic as they hire day laborers.
A federal district judge blocked the provision last year, and lawyers representing Arizona Governor Jan Brewer appealed.
In a ruling released Monday, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that the state couldn't enforce the law because it would restrict commercial speech too harshly.
Brewer will review the ruling and decide whether or not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said her spokesman, Matt Benson.
"The day laborer provision targeted the real issues Arizona communities have with illegal aliens seeking work outside retail establishments, creating traffic problems and other safety risks to the public," Benson said.
The decision was hailed by a coalition of civil rights groups that are challenging SB 1070.
"While Arizona has been spinning its wheels in a vain attempt to defend its fundamentally unconstitutional anti-immigrant law, the rest of the country has moved on, with legislators coming together across party lines to build a common-sense immigration system that benefits us all," said Omar Jadwat of the American Civil Liberties Union in a press release.
In April, the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments about another section of SB 1070 that a lower court put on hold in September.
The section in question criminalizes transporting or harboring undocumented immigrants.
