Dean Johnson Publishes Op-Ed on Ariz. Immigration Law in Bee
Dean Kevin R. Johnson published an essay on Arizona's controversial new immigration law in the Sacramento Bee on May 2. In addition, the dean continued to comment on the issue for media including Politifact.com, Public Radio International, New American Media, Slate.com, radio stations KSRO and KTAR, and others.
Dean Johnson's essay, which was published in the Bee under the title "Arizona law will likely collide with the Constitution-and lose," is strongly critical of the Arizona measure, which would place responsibilities for enforcing immigration law on local police, requiring them to verify the immigration status of any person with whom they have "lawful contact" and about whom they have a "reasonable suspicion" of being in the country in violation of the U.S. immigration laws. Dean Johnson refers to the law as "pernicious" and "foolhardy," and points out that it is extremely vulnerable to legal challenges and likely never to be implemented.
The Arizona law violates the U.S. Constitution, he writes, because "unlike many other areas of law, such as criminal law in which the states and the U.S. government may pass their own laws, immigration regulation is exclusively within the power of the national government." States, like Arizona, lack the constitutional authority to have their own immigration laws. The law is also "poor law enforcement policy" in that it is likely to alienate police from immigrant communities, he writes.
Dean Johnson also suggests that the controversy surrounding the Arizona law may have some benefit in that it has "brought immigration back to the front pages," and calls upon the Obama administration to provide leadership in working toward comprehensive immigration reform.
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.
Sacramento Bee op-ed: "Arizona law will likely collide with the Constitution - and lose"