Litigation

Appeals Court: Regulating Immigrants is Federal Domain

By Peter Hardin

Regulating immigrants is “clearly within the exclusive domain of the federal government,” a federal appeals court said in ruling that Hazleton, Pa. may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants.

“It is … not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted. We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress,” wrote Chief Judge Theodore McKee of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to an Associated Press article.

Not all appeals courts have agreed whether states and municipalities may enforce laws involving immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear debate over an Arizona law barring businesses from knowingly employing illegal immigrants.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 10, 2010 (boomark / email).