Dean Johnson Comments on Ariz. Immigration Law for Legal Current Podcast
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented on Arizona's controversial new immigration law for a podcast produced by Legal Current, the blog of Thomson Reuters.
Dean Johnson stated that the U.S. Constitution makes it clear that "federal law is the supreme law of the land. In this instance, immigration is something that is exclusively the province of the federal government. State laws can't regulate immigration."
Noting that a federal court found Proposition 187, the California law that attempted to deny state benefits to immigrants to be unconstitutional, he added, "I don't see much of a chance at all of the Arizona law surviving" court challenges.
Dean Johnson also spoke about the Arizona law at the May 6 La Raza Lawyers Association meeting in Sacramento.
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.