This week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Arizona v. United States and decide the constitutionality of Arizona SB 1070, the notorious “papers please” immigration law that allows local police officers to arrest and question residents simply for looking undocumented. The Court’s ruling will have ramifications for communities across America and our country’s commitment to equal justice for all. The case could determine whether states have the right to legalize discrimination and racial profiling and how far states can go to enact their own punitive immigration laws.
Last week, NIJC, DePaul University College of Law’s Center for Public Interest Law, and the Society for Asylum and Immigration Law hosted a panel discussion about how the SB 1070 argument might play out at the Supreme Court and how this landmark case could affect immigrants and American citizens in the Midwest and beyond. Watch the video above to see what our panel had to say about what to expect when SB 1070 goes on trial before the nation's highest court.
Tara Tidwell Cullen is the associate director of communications at Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center.