A federal appeals court today upheld a lower court decision blocking the enforcement of parts of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigrant law, SB 1070. The provisions in question would require law enforcement officers to determine the immigration status of individuals they stop and make it a crime to be in the state without immigration papers.

“Our country’s immigration laws need fixing, but we need sensible comprehensive immigration reform, not unconstitutional and reactionary policies,” said Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way.

 “The Justice Department was right to step in and challenge a law that threatened both the work of federal immigration enforcement and the civil liberties of Arizonans. SB 1070 clearly violates our laws and our values. Let this be a signal to our state and federal legislators that we must fix our immigration system without destroying our fundamental constitutional protections.”

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