Illegal aliens sneak into the US near Sierra Vista, Arizona.
The Mexican government wants Arizona to get rid of its law that punishes those who harbor illegal immigrants.
The Mexican government urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday to block part of the Arizona immigration law. The Mexicans say it harms international relations.
The Arizona Daily Sun reported:
Saying it harms international relations, the Mexican government wants a U.S. federal court to keep in place an injunction that bars Arizona from punishing those who harbor illegal immigrants.
In legal filings Wednesday, attorneys for Mexico claim the provision of SB1070 “poses a real threat to Mexico-U.S. bilateral relations.” The lawyers also said the controversial 2010 Arizona law illegally intrudes into issues of immigration that is solely the province of the U.S. government.
The brief drew an angry reaction from Matthew Benson, press aide to Gov. Jan Brewer.
“It’s not for Mexico to interfere in a United States judicial matter, especially when Mexico’s own immigration laws are significantly more heavy handed than this,” he said. Anyway, Benson said, the Arizona statute simply mirrors federal law and is not in conflict.
The provision makes it a crime for someone who is violating any other law to also transport or harbor an illegal immigrant, or to encourage or induce someone to illegally come to or live in the state. A suspect would have to know the person is in this country illegally or recklessly disregard that fact.
The original challenge to that section was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton. She said nothing in the language infringes on the right of the United States to determine who is admitted or who remains.
Earlier this year, however, Bolton had a change of heart, enjoining enforcement after concluding this is strictly the purview of the federal government.
Attorneys for the governor are urging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn that ruling. But the Mexican government, in its own legal filing, said the appellate judges should leave things the way they are and that Bolton got it right.
Related… More families are returning to Mexico over US immigration laws according to a recent report.
