Arizona's Gov. Brewer sends order for police agencies to view immigration video

The U.S. Supreme Court could rule next week on the future of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, Senate Bill 1070. In preparation, Gov. Jan Brewer wants to make sure law enforcement is ready, according to USA Today report.

Brewer sent an executive order to the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board today to send a training video, which was created two years ago, to all agencies by this Friday.

View parts of the video here and a news release dated when the video was originally released.

“The governor is optimistic that the heart of SB 1070 will be upheld and implemented,” Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said. “The governor thought this was an appropriate time to revisit the issue and make sure Arizona law enforcement is as prepared as possible for partial or full implementation of the law.”

It is noteworthy that police officers are not required by law to view the video and the governor’s recommendation can be either accepted or rejected by local police agencies within the state of Arizona.

SB 1070, among other things, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest to, when practical, ask about a person’s legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

The U.S. Supreme Court is evaluating the 2010 law on only the question of whether Arizona’s attempt to fix its border problems is trumped by federal law. That means that opponents could still ask the courts to block enforcement of the law on other legal grounds.

For example, the high court isn’t considering the possibility that racial profiling may arise from the law — because the Obama administration’s lawsuit didn’t challenge it on those grounds. The administration focused instead on whether federal law supersedes the state law, an issue known as “pre-emption.”

This part of the law was stopped until the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing and ultimate decision, which is expected soon.

Standards and training board director Lyle Mann said no one knows what the Supreme Court will decide, but he believes Brewer’s goal is to assure every law enforcement agency is prepared for whatever decision the court makes.

Once the Supreme Court rules, the standards and training board will distribute supplemental information to law enforcement explaining which additional parts of the law, if any, now go into effect and any additional court requirements.

The court could, among numerous options, declare that parts of the law will go into effect immediately or it could send the issue back to a lower court, delaying implementation by days or weeks.

Until the court issues a decision, any kind of question about what Arizona is going to do and when is basically speculation.

Critics have said the Arizona law, known as SB 1070, could lead to ethnic and racial profiling of Hispanics in the state, and government lawyers argue that it interferes with federal powers on immigration.

Signed by Governor Brewer in April 2010, the law sought to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona, although most of it was blocked by a federal judge before it came into effect.

At an oral hearing in late April, conservative justices who hold a majority on the Supreme Court appeared to endorse the crackdown.

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Resources

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-13/arizona-immigration-law-brewer/55572124/1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtFKQ7U5Njs

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-immigration-arizonabre85c01x-20120612,0,7990726.story