Civil Rights Groups Welcome Federal Lawsuit Challenging Arizona Anti-Immigration Law

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday to invalidate the controversial Arizona immigration law that gives local police the authority to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

A group of civil and human rights organizations that filed a similar lawsuit in May challenging the constitutionality of the law released a joint statement on the Justice Department’s lawsuit. The group includes Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); the National Immigration Law Center (NILC); the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC); the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona; the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON); and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

“The federal government is telling us today that it knows without a shadow of a doubt that SB 1070 is an affront to our civil rights. It is politically motivated and racially biased, and must be struck down before it sees the light of day,” said Harris County (Texas) Commissioner Sylvia R. García, president of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Board.