Arizona SCOTUS Ruling Frames NY “Se Communities” Debate
NEW YORK – Just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s split decision on Arizona’s controversial immigration law, a new education campaign is being launched today to deal with local fears surrounding enforcement on Long Island of federal immigration rules, particularly the Se Communities immigration program, known as S-com. Ted Hesson, online editor for Long Island Wins, says that for now the portion of the Supreme Court ruling that upholds the “show me your papers law” applies to Arizona police, but his group is concerned because there have been plenty of copycat laws around the nation. “Whereas S-com is sort of de facto authorizing police to act as immigration agents on the local level, this is actually requiring the police who are out there to be doing this as part of their job.” The Supreme Court ruled that the remaining three provisions of Arizona’s immigration law violate the Constitution.