When States Put Out the Unwelcome Mat – NYTimes.com

There is one area, besides copper mining and home foreclosures, where Arizona is a national leader. It’s at the front of a movement by states and local governments to seize control of immigration from the federal government. In 2010 it passed a law, S.B. 1070, that made the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants its official policy with a grab bag of enforcement schemes that turned federal immigration infractions into state crimes. Among other things, the law required immigration checks by local police, required immigrants to carry papers with them, and made it illegal for the undocumented to live or look for work in the state, or for people to knowingly hire, harbor or transport them. A state with its own immigration law — that is, its own foreign policy — raises obvious constitutional issues. The Supreme Court is taking up S.B. 1070 next month… – NY Times 03.10.2012