Several national news organizations are reporting that a Justice Department legal team is drafting a plan to challenge Arizona's new immigration law, SB 1070.
All of the reports stress that a final decision to challenge the law has not been made and would face hurdles from other legal analysts within the Justice Department and in the White House. But the team is reported to be developing a challenge based on the idea that Arizona overstepped its authority.
Mike Levine of Fox News was first on the development with a blog entry Tuesday night: DOJ Lawyers Draft Challenge to AZ Law
The story has also been reported by the Wall Street Journal and ABC News.
Today the Justice Department hosted police chiefs from Arizona and other states who expressed concern about the Arizona bill.
SB 1070 requires police officers to determine the immigration status of anyone arrested before that person is released. The law prohibits police from using race to establish reasonable suspicion that someone is here illegally. The law makes it a state crime for illegal immigrants to work in Arizona, and makes it a state crime to transport, conceal, harbor or shield illegal immigrants.
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