Statement by Wade Henderson on Ruling against Arizona Immigration Law

“We applaud today’s ruling by Judge Bolton blocking the most troubling provisions of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect. While the ruling focuses primarily on the fact that the Arizona law interferes with federal immigration laws, the bottom line is that the Arizona law is simply bad policy. Permitting this law to go forward would have opened the door to a drastic increase in racial and ethnic profiling, singling out minorities based simply on how they look or speak. It also would have wasted valuable law enforcement resources while driving a wedge between the police and the communities they work to protect.

Today’s ruling now shifts the focus back to the federal government. All sides agree that our country’s broken immigration system is in dire need of comprehensive reform. It is just as important to the fabric of our nation as reforming health care, Wall Street, and our schools.  Congress and the White House have spent a lot of time talking about it.  Now it is time for action.”