Obama's lawsuit against Az immigration law

A copy of the DOJ suit is available here. Possibly the most amazing thing is that after all of Obama's fear-mongering about racial discrimination, the lawsuit doesn't mention racial discrimination.

Sections 1-6 of S.B. 1070, taken in whole and in part, represent an impermissible effort by Arizona to establish its own immigration policy and to directly regulate the immigration status of aliens. In particular, Sections 1-6 conflict with federal law and foreign policy, disregard federal policies, interfere with federal enforcement priorities in areas committed to the discretion of plaintiff United States, and otherwise impede the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of federal law and foreign policy. . . .

This claimed violation of the Supremacy Clause makes little sense as the Arizona law is not in conflict with the Federal law, it is the same as the federal law.

Section 5 of S.B. 1070 (adding Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-2929) restricts the interstate movement of aliens in a manner that is prohibited by Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution. . . . Section5ofS.B.1070(addingAriz.Rev.Stat.13-2929)violates the Commerce Clause, and is therefore invalid.

It seems strange to argue that the Commerce Clause protects the illegal movement of illegal aliens across states.

Some background over today's suit by the US Dept of Justice against Arizona's new law dealing with illegal aliens. From the Washington Post in May:

In the legal battle over Arizona's new immigration law, an ironic subtext has emerged: whether a Bush-era legal opinion complicates a potential Obama administration lawsuit against Arizona.

The document, written in 2002 by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that state police officers have "inherent power" to arrest undocumented immigrants for violating federal law. It was issued by Jay S. Bybee, who also helped write controversial memos from the same era that sanctioned harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.

The author of the Arizona law -- which has drawn strong opposition from top Obama administration officials -- has cited the authority granted in the 2002 memo as a basis for the legislation. The Obama administration has not withdrawn the memo, and some backers of the Arizona law said Monday that because it remains in place, a Justice Department lawsuit against Arizona would be awkward at best.

"The Justice Department's official position as of now is that local law enforcement has the inherent authority to enforce federal immigration law," said Robert Driscoll, a former Justice Department Civil Rights Division official in the George W. Bush administration who represents an Arizona sheriff known for aggressive immigration enforcement. "How can you blame someone for exercising authority that the department says they have?" . . .

See also this discussion at Fox News. See also this piece from the Washington Times.