Saying it harms international relations, the Mexican government wants a U.S. federal court to keep in place an injunction that bars Arizona from punishing those who harbor illegal immigrants.
In legal filings Wednesday, attorneys for Mexico claim the provision of SB 1070 "poses a real threat to Mexico-U.S. bilateral relations.'' The lawyers also said the controversial 2010 Arizona law illegally intrudes into issues of immigration which is solely the province of the U.S. government.
The brief drew an angry reaction from Matthew Benson, press aide to Gov. Jan Brewer.
"It's not for Mexico to interfere in a United States judicial matter, especially when Mexico's own immigration laws are significantly more heavy handed than this,'' he said. Anyway, Benson said, the Arizona statute simply mirrors federal law and is not in conflict.
The provision makes it a crime for someone who is violating any other law to also transport or harbor an illegal immigrant, or to encourage or induce someone to illegally come to or live in the state. A suspect would have to know the person is in this country illegally or recklessly disregard that fact.
The original challenge to that section was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton. She said nothing in the language infringes on the right of the United States to determine who is admitted or who remains.
Earlier this year, however, Bolton had a change of heart, enjoining enforcement after concluding this is strictly the purview of the federal government.
Attorneys for the governor are urging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn that ruling. But the Mexican government, in its own legal filing, said the appellate judges should leave things the way they are and that Bolton got it right.
"This is fundamentally an immigration law,'' they wrote, pointing out that Congress already has enacted its own laws criminalizing those who harbor certain illegal immigrants. More to the point, they said courts have consistently ruled that there needs to be a single national voice on immigration matters.
And the lawyers for the Mexican government told the judges they need to consider the "significant burdens'' the law would place "on the important and highly productive'' relations between the two countries. But that is not all.
"By imposing new, separate state criminal sanctions on individuals who interact in certain ways with apparent immigrants, (SB 1070) creates substantial new burdens on Mexican nationals who immigrate to or visit Arizona,'' the lawyers wrote. They said if Arizona can start enforcing the law it would result in social and economic harms to Mexican nationals, "which in turn would undermine Mexico-U.S. relations.''
That damage, they insist, is not theoretical.
Even before SB 1070 took effect, the Mexican Senate postponed a review of an agreement on emergency management of natural disasters and accidents. And border state governors from Mexico refused to attend the annual conference in 2010 with their U.S. counterparts.
Beyond that, the attorneys said the provision "encourages marginalization of individuals of Mexican or Latin American appearance, affecting their ability and willingness to engage in business in and with the United States.''
"To steer clear of the risk of violating (SB 1070), Arizona's population must either become immigration experts or avoid transporting, giving shelter or assistance to, or even discussing life in the United States with persons who appear to be undocumented,'' the Mexican government says. "In other words Arizona's state crime encourages its citizens to marginalize a group of people based on appearance.''
Benson said the objections of the Mexican government ignore the problems created by illegal immigrants and those who purport to help them.
"This provision was created to deal with a real problem in Arizona involving illegal immigrants being transported across the state and harbored in drop houses,'' he said. "There's a real crime problem here that the people of Arizona have had to deal with.''
The attorneys for Mexico insisted they are not trying to undermine the right of sovereign countries to decide their own policies. Instead, they said, they were informing the court of the effects Arizona's law which have on U.S. foreign affairs. And that, they said, is crucial for courts to decide if state laws are preempted.
This is not the first section of SB 1070 to be challenged.
In a ruling last year, the U.S. Supreme Court voided three sections of the law as preempted by federal law:
- making it a state crime for someone not in this country legally to fail to carry federally issued regisation cards;
- making it illegal for an undocumented worker to apply for work in a public place or perform work as an employee or independent contractor within Arizona;
- allowing police to make an arrest without a warrant if there is "probable cause'' they committed an offense that makes them removable from the country.
But the justices let stand -- at least for now -- a section of the law which requires police to try to determine the immigration status of someone they have already stopped if there is "reasonable suspicion'' that person is unlawfully in the country. It also requires determination of immigration status of anyone placed under arrest.
The justices warned, though, that they might revisit the issue and reach a different conclusion if there is evidence that law is being applied in a discriminatory fashion.
The 9th Circuit is separately reviewing a different ruling by Bolton which voided another section of SB 1070 aimed at day laborers. It makes it a crime for someone to enter a car stopped on the street to go to work elsewhere and also criminalizes drivers who stop to pick up laborers.
samkat posted at 5:35 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Tell Mexico to bu*t out. We don't challenge their immigration laws so why should they get their drawers (the censor doesn't like my other word) in a bunch over ours? Oh, that's right. We have over 20% of their population here illegally.
ozhatt posted at 5:56 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Who gives a dam what Mexico thinks
I wish they could keep there garbage instead they come up here and steal other peoples identities
WakkoWarner posted at 6:14 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
To heck with that third world cesspool. Nothing but crime and corruption in Mexico. I am tired of seeing neighborhoods taken over by illegals - they trash them. Mexico is only doing this because they do not want to lose the money that is sent home by illegal immigrants - period. They do not care at all for the rule of law. And for them to state that it is a matter for the federal government - hogwash.
Arizona has an international border and has the RIGHT to protect itself from invasion when the federal government turns a blind eye. Governor Brewer should order the Arizona National Guard to the border in a military role - then let's see what Mexico has to say about it.
mlimberg posted at 6:14 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Clean up Mexico and then we can talk... maybe Arizona needs to ask the UN to clean up Mexico! Laughable....
markzellers posted at 7:08 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
This is all about money... Mexico's number one source of legitimate income (excluding drugs of course) is money sent back from workers in the US. Mexico does NOTHING to assist us with curbing illegal immigration problems we have as it is good for business.
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:24 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Wow. Mexico's government thinks AZ's hard on OUR CITIZENS when it comes to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. I guess what they do is fine. Who are they to tell us how we should run OUR COUNTRY when theirs is in such DISORDER, and replete with crime, graft, and the country's run by the cartels....
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:25 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Hey Mexico! You don't want them mistreated? DON'T ALLOW THEM TO COME!
crazyjake31 posted at 8:15 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
A neighbor spent 2 weeks in Mexican jail for having a 22 bullet in the bed of his truck until relatives wired a bribe...I mean bail. Mexico, leave the civilized law creation/enforcement to us. Clearly its out of your league!!
loose stool posted at 4:03 am on Fri, Dec 28, 2012.
We need to build the fence and put the military on the border. There is going to more mexicans living in the United States then citizens in a few years. We are being infested with with them and just like with a disease the host will eventualy die.
az2008 posted at 9:10 am on Fri, Dec 28, 2012.
Leon, Reagan gave amnesty to 10 million illegal aliens.
I'm not defending Mexico's President. I think it's the height of hypocrisy considering how Mexico treats illegal immigrants from Central America.
riteon posted at 7:36 pm on Tue, Jan 1, 2013.
What a joke!
dhwilson58 posted at 3:24 am on Wed, Jan 9, 2013.
Its real easy...You have NO right sticking you fricken nose where it doesn't belong and it doesn't belong in the affairs of the United States of America / Arizona. Moreover, when someone commits a crime here in Arizona they get punished, Harboring illegals is a crime! Ya'll are lucky I don't have the authority to set punishment for illegals crossing the border illegally, littering our streets with your drugs you smuggle over here, commit a violent crimes or are found HARBORING illegal immigrates. If I was, we Arizona residents would NOT have a border problem thus stopping all the other crimes ya'll bring with you. Who ever made that statement is without a doubt using the very same drugs that ya'll smuggle over here thinking you have the right to make stupid statements. I got it, wish in one hand and you know what to do with the other.