A UNO political scientist expects further challenges following the U.S. Supreme Court’s split ruling on Arizona’s immigration law.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned three parts of that law. Justices kept a provision allowing police to check a person’s status during a separate violation if they suspect the person is an illegal immigrant.
UNO political science professor Carson Holloway expects there could be further legal action. "What it would be an issue with is if the state is detaining these people for a long time while they’re checking their immigration status with the federal government, would that not in effect be a way of punishing them and thus interfering with the enforcement of federal law the way the federal government wants to enforce it."
Holloway says the case before the Supreme Court wasn’t about civil rights, but about whether states can pass immigration laws that go beyond the scope of federal law.
Justices overturned provisions requiring immigrants carry papers on them at all times; making it a crime for illegal immigrants to work; and allowing police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants without having warrants.