66 Members of Congress: Uphold AZ Law

The legal battle continues to defend the constitutionality of Arizona's immigration law.  After a decision blocking key provisions of the measure from being implemented, the case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Once again, the ACLJ is involved and has filed an amicus brief on behalf of 66 members of Congress urging the appeals court to uphold the AZ law and permit it to be implemented in its entirety.

The argument we make in our amicus brief is clear:  "Congress has plenary power to prescribe the immigration laws and the Executive must follow Congresss direction."

Further, the brief asserts that provisions of the Arizona law "are consistent with federal immigration policy that promotes increasingly greater roles for states in enforcing immigration law."

And, according to the brief, the district court wrongly "held that the Executives prosecutorial discretion and foreign policy preempt Arizona's law. The district court ignored Congress's intent in evaluating the Administration's preemption claims."

Finally, the brief argues that if the Court of Appeals "does not reverse the district courts decision, preemption analysis will no longer turn on congressional intent, but on each Administrations political views."

The brief concludes that Arizona's law is compatible with federal law. "The federal and state alien registration laws in this case are seamlessly integrated. . . Because S.B. 1070 mirrors federal immigration provisions, its plainly legitimate sweep is indisputable. . ." 

The brief is located here.

The ACLJ, along with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, filed the brief with the 9th Circuit on behalf of 66 members of Congress including 5 members of the U.S. Senate and 61 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The members of the 111th Congress represented in the brief include Arizona Congressman Trent Franks and California Congressman Brian Bilbray, who assisted in generating Congressional participation in the brief. 

Also included:  Senator John Barrasso, Senator Jim DeMint, Senator James Inhofe, Senator David Vitter, Senator Roger Wicker, Robert Aderholt, Rodney Alexander, Michele Bachmann, Spencer Bachus, J. Gresham Barrett, Rob Bishop, Marsha Blackburn, John Boozman, Paul Broun, Ginny Brown-Waite, Michael Burgess, Dan Burton, Ken Calvert, John Campbell, John Carter, Jason Chaffetz, Howard Coble, Mike Coffman, John Culberson, Geoff Davis, John Fleming, Randy Forbes, Virginia Foxx, Elton Gallegly, Scott Garrett, Phil Gingrey, Louie Gohmert, Bob Goodlatte, Ralph Hall, Dean Heller, Wally Herger, Pete Hoekstra, Duncan Hunter, Walter Jones, Jim Jordan, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Doug Lamborn, Robert Latta, Don Manzullo, Patrick McHenry, Gary Miller, Jeff Miller, Jerry Moran, Sue Myrick, Randy Neugebauer, Joe Pitts, Ted Poe, Bill Posey, Tom Price, Ed Royce, John Shadegg, Bill Shuster, Lamar Smith, John Sullivan, Gene Taylor, Todd Tiahrt, and Ed Whitfield.

Stay in touch with us on our website or on our daily radio broadcast, Jay Sekulow Live!, for updates on the progress of this case.