Federal government to sue Arizona over SB1070 law

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. Department of Justice today will file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona to stop the implementation of SB1070. The controversial law gives police the power to question and detain anyone if they have reasonable suspicion that they are in the country undocumented.

The federal lawsuit will argue that SB1070 violates the Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, since administering immigration laws is the sole responsibility of the federal government. This lawsuit would join other lawsuits that have been filed against SB1070.

President Obama has expressed his opposition to SB1070. In his most recent speech on comprehensive immigration reform he said that these kinds of laws "have the potential to infringe on the rights of innocent U.S. citizens and legal residents by subjecting them to possibly being stopped or questioned because of their appearance and their accent."