Immigration Federal Of State Responsibility - 1228 Words

Bryson Huitt Professor Shine Government 2306 15 November 2015 Immigration: Federal of State Responsibility? There are few topics in America today that are more hotly debated than immigration. Because of our nation’s economy and current leadership, immigration seems to be a much more sensitive topic in today’s society than ever before. From the time our country was founded, people have immigrated to America for a better life. In an effort to escape religious persecution, war, or just to have better opportunities for their family, immigrants have tried to make their homes within the borders of the United States. Illegal immigration has reached epic proportion and everyone can agree that a solution is long overdue. Although many states†¦show more content†¦1070 which made it illegal for immigrants not to carry their documents and authorized police to detain people they ‘reasonably’ suspect are unauthorized.† (Renwick). Unfortunately, much of this policy was found to violate or infringe up on the immigrant’s rights. â€Å"Last year, the Supreme Court struck down most of Arizona’s immigration legislation, siding with the Obama administration and immigrant right’s activists who argued that Arizona’s law intruded on the federal government’s well-established authority over immigration† (Lane). Although this state law was argued in the Supreme Court, the controversial â€Å"papers, please† clause was allowed to remain in effect. While Arizona is doing its best to enact tougher immigration laws, states like California are trying to create laws to protect illegal, undocumented, immigrants. â€Å"California’s new law limits cooperation with the federal Secure Communities program, under which the fingerprints of arrestees that local police routinely send to the FBI also get routed to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement† (Lane). The problem with this law, which the Supreme Court will eventually need to rule on, is that it also infringes on the current Federal laws. Because the federal government has the responsibility for setting immigration policy, states are facing an uphill battle in trying to set their own policy and enforcing immigration law at the state level. Texas has tried to pass immigration legislation with a