Arizona Will Get Its Day in Court

Arizona will finally get fair opportunity to defend immigration law

After all the boycotts, all the accusations of racism, and all the indignation surrounding Arizona's efforts to head off (pun possibly intended), the United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to attempt to overturn the state's immigration law.

The brief filed by the Justice Department argues that states may not enact their own immigration laws, nor may they enforce existing state laws in a manner deemed to inferfere with federal immigration law.

The Arizona law, which requires immigrants to carry alien registration documentation, and allows police to question suspects about their residency status while enforcing other laws.

But as it turns out, some of the most-objected-to provisions of the Arizona law already mirror federal law. Immigrants in the United States are already required to carry alien registration documentation as per the federal Alien Registration Act of 1940.

The biggest difference between the Arizona law and federal law is that a lawful stop is not required under federal immigration law, it is required under Arizona's law.

In other words, a higher standard of jurisprudence is required under Arizona's law than under federal law. This is actually the kind of improvement that those criticizing the law should be applauding.

It's difficult to think that there's much more at the heart of the justice department's challenge the Arizona law than pandering to left-wing groups exploiting the issue of racism for ideological gain.

After all, regardless of how the left-wing opponents of this bill want to characterize it, this is not about race. It does nothing to impede the legal entry of immigrants -- Mexican or otherwise -- into the state of Arizona.

The racism argument is, as it so often has been, a canard meant to ideologically benefit those who cynically exploit it.