Arizona's immigration smuggling law was ruled invalid‏

Arizona's immigration smuggling law was ruled invalid‏ On November 7, the U.S. Federal District Court of Arizona issued a ruling stating that Arizona's immigration smuggling law is the same as...

On November 7, the U.S. Federal District Court of Arizona issued a ruling that Arizona's immigration smuggling law conflicts with the federal government's authority on immigration issues and is therefore invalid.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Arizona’s immigration smuggling law passed in 2005 stipulates that those who smuggle illegal immigrants into the state will be prosecuted. The law was subsequently incorporated into Arizona's SB 1070, passed in 2010, which is one of the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration laws in U.S. history. Federal Judge Susan Bolton said in her ruling that the state's immigration smuggling law imposes more and different state-level penalties than federal law; the law deprives the federal government of its absolute authority in dealing with smuggling crimes; the law criminalizes conduct that does not violate federal law and does not include the "safe harbor" provision in federal law that exempts religious behavior.

Previously, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruled that another Arizona immigration law was invalid. The law makes it a crime in Arizona to harbor, transport and conceal illegal immigrants.

Bolton also ruled that the core part of the SB 1070 law was invalid. The original provision allowed Arizona to arrest people who entered the country illegally or were looking for work without legal documents.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some provisions of SB 1070 were unconstitutional, but allowed Arizona to authorize police to check the immigration status of those they suspected to be illegal immigrants.

In 2013, a federal judge ruled that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during traffic checks and searches of illegal immigrants. Arpaio strongly supports Arizona's tough stance on immigration.