A federal judge will hold the first major court hearing in one of the seven legal challenges to Arizona’s new immigration law.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton was scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over Gov. Jan Brewer’s request to dismiss the challenge filed by Phoenix police Officer David Salgado and the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.

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Profiling’s Enabler: High Court Ruling Underpins Arizona Immigration Law

In its challenge to Arizona’s controversial immigration law last week, the Justice Department argues that the state law conflicts with federal law, intruding on federal power and ability to regulate immigration. For many Americans, however, the lawsuit is needed because of concerns that Arizona’s legislation, S.B. 1070, will lead to police harassment of people, particularly those of color, who cannot prove they are in this country legally. Yet for all the controversy over those concerns, few are talking about the real legal issue underlying the law.

Supporters and opponents of S.B. 1070 assume that racial profiling is unconstitutional, largely because many Americans believe that it ought to be. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has approved the racial profiling permitted — indeed encouraged — by S.B. 1070.

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- via The Washington Post

Learn More: UNITED STATES v. BRIGNONI-PONCE, 422 U.S. 873 (1975) - Cited Supreme Court case that SB 1070 is based on.

 The nation’s top civil liberties group on Wednesday issued travel alerts for Arizona, saying the state’s new law cracking down on illegal immigrants could lead to racial profiling and warrantless arrests.

American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Arizona, New Mexico and 26 other states put out the warnings in advance of the Fourth of July weekend. The Arizona chapter has received reports that law enforcement officers are already targeting some people even though the law doesn’t take effect until July 29, its executive director said.

The alerts are designed to teach people about their rights if police stop and question them.

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Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state’s new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country’s own interests and its citizens’ rights are at stake.

Lawyers for Mexico on Tuesday submitted a legal brief in support of one of five lawsuits challenging the law. The law will take effect July 29 unless implementation is blocked by a court.

The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there’s a “reasonable suspicion” they’re in the country illegally. It also makes being in Arizona illegally a misdemeanor, and it prohibits seeking day-labor work along the state’s streets.

Citing “grave concerns,” Mexico said its interest in having predictable, consistent relations with the United States shouldn’t be frustrated by one U.S. state.

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- via The AP

The Tohono O’odham Nation and Arizona’s intertribal council have passed resolutions against S.B. 1070 – an anti-immigration state law that has unleashed a storm of protest from opponents who say it is a racist call to discriminate against people of color.

The Tohono O’odham Legislative Council passed a resolution May 19 opposing S.B. 1070 as “discriminatory state legislation” and supporting “lawful measures to repeal or invalidate” it.

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. presented the resolution to the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. On June 4, the council’s 20 members unanimously approved a separate resolution against the law, council Executive Director John Lewis said. Both resolutions will be brought to the National Congress of American Indians at its mid-year meeting June 20 – 23 in Rapid City, S.D., where the congress will be asked to adopt a resolution opposing S.B. 1070.

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- via Indian Country Today