Noelle Phillips
Miami Herald
December 24, 2011
State and local police will not be checking for immigration documents on Jan. 1 after a federal judge on Thursday blocked portions of the South Carolina immigration law.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel also suspended one section that would require immigrants to carry their registration documents and another section that would make it a crime to harbor or transport an illegal immigrant, meaning people could be arrested for renting a room to an illegal immigrant or driving one to church.
In his opinion, Gergel used the word “dragnet” to describe provisions that would allow police to check for immigration documents of people stopped for minor crimes such as jaywalking. Those actions would conflict with federal immigration policy, which sets priorities for which illegal immigrants it wants to detain. The state’s detention of illegal immigrants also could interfere with foreign relations, Gergel said in agreeing with the U.S. Department of Justice, which sued to block the law.
“The pursuit by state and local law enforcement officers of low priority targets through widespread traffic and street level dragnets mandated would, according to the United States, overburden federal immigration enforcement resources and disrupt the federal government’s enforcement scheme,” Gergel wrote.
Gergel’s decision could factor in the U.S. Supreme Court’s review next year of a similar suit against Arizona’s immigration laws. The S.C. law was modeled after Arizona’s. Similar suits also have been filed in Alabama and Utah.
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