Senate Dems applaud blow to Arizona immigration law

Reid. Talk Radio News Service photo

By BENNY MARTINEZ
Talk Radio News Service

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders are quietly applauding the Supreme Court for striking down a majority of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, but remain wary the what remains of the law will lead to discrimination.

The Senate’s top Democrat Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that while the Supreme Court was “right to strike down the vast majority of the Arizona law” he remains skeptical that the remaining provision will create cause for racial profiling among Arizona’s law enforcement against the state’s Hispanic population.

“I am greatly concerned that the provision putting American citizens in danger of being detained by police unless they carry their immigration papers at all times will lead to a system of racial profiling,” Reid said in a statement. “It is disturbing that Mitt Romney called the unconstitutional Arizona law a ‘model’ for immigration reform. Laws that legalize discrimination are not compatible with our nation’s ideals and traditions of equal rights, and the idea that such an unconstitutional law should serve as a ‘model’ for national reform is far outside the American mainstream.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) echoed Reid’s sentiment about the high court’s ruling and warned Arizona that the provision that survived remains “on thin legal ice.”

“The Court is sending a stern warning to Arizona that the provision allowing local law enforcement to check people’s immigration documents cannot be implemented in a discriminatory or draconian way, or it will be thrown out like the rest of the law,” he said in a statement.

Both Reid and Schumer used the opportunity to call on congressional Republicans to work with Democrats in passing comprehensive immigration reform sooner rather than later.

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Posted by Gary on Jun 25 2012. Filed under Breaking News, Politics, US. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.