Sigonee
Current Event Posting #3
Topic: Leaders (State vs. Federal)
Title of article: Supreme Court signals it's OK with parts of Arizona's immigration law
Author: unknown
Publication name: U.S. News on msnbc.com
Date of Publication: April 25, 2012
Length of article: 885 words

Main Idea:
The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed, on Wednesday, April 25, 2012, that it is ready to uphold one of the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law: a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they think are in the country illegally.  Justice Anthony Kennedy claims that the flood of illegal immigrants has caused "social and economic disruption."  Arizona also appeared to have a tougher time defending two other provisions of the law that now blocked: making it a state crime to have no federal immigration papers and making it a state crime for and illegal immigrant to look for work.  The four conservative justices, John Roberts, Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, and Samuel Alito believe Arizona's measure is "an effort to help you enforce federal law." The Obama administration argues that only the federal government, not states, has the right to set immigration laws; it says that Arizona cannot impose immigration laws that conflict with federal laws.  However, the two provisions are, currently, neither a federal crime.  Former Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, has described the unabated flow of illegal aliens into the country as one of the "greatest threats to our nation."   

Conclusion:
In conclusion, it seems as though the controversy over illegal immigrants is not a fight between the immigrants and the law, but rather that it has developed into a conflict between the state and federal government.  They both have difference in opinion to advocate the law; the state government (of Arizona) blames the federal government for not wanting to know who's illegal in the United States and who is not.  Many conservatives in the state government, like Senator Sen. Russell Pearce, feel the issue of immigration is a national crisis, chosen to be ignored.