Lawyers offer input on ‘show me your papers’

Lawyers for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and the Obama administration have presented a federal judge with their suggested wording for a court order that would let police enforce the most contentious section of the state's immigration law.

BY DAVE DULBERG

Sep 17, 2012, 4:46 PM Updated: 4:47 pm

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PHOENIX — Lawyers for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and the Obama administration
have presented a federal judge with their suggested wording for a court order
that would let police enforce the most contentious section of the state’s
immigration law.

Attorneys on both sides agreed that a 2010 order blocking enforcement of the
provision should be lifted once U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton signs a new
order. The ultimate decision on when the section goes into effect is up to
Bolton.

The provision requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question the
immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally.

Police have been barred from enforcing the questioning requirement, dubbed by
critics as the “show me your papers” provision, since July 2010. But a U.S.
Supreme Court decision in June upheld the provision and cleared the way for
officers to enforce it.

Bolton sought input from both sides on how to carry out the Supreme Court’s
ruling.

In a separate but related case, a civil rights coalition has asked Bolton and
an appeals court to block enforcement of the provision while they appeal
Bolton’s Sept. ruling that sunk the coalition’s bid to bar police from enforcing
the provision.

The coalition responded to the Supreme Court decision by asking Bolton to bar
enforcement of the requirement on the grounds that Latinos in Arizona would face
systematic racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions.

Brewer’s attorneys told Bolton that the request ought to be denied because the
opponents aren’t making any new arguments.