Thursday, August 11, 2005
9th Circuit: Arizona Can Crack Down on Illegal Aliens
Last week, the ultra-liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco held that a school in Hawaii could not exclude white students. Shockingly, this week this same court once again found itself making a decision with some common sense - it upheld Arizona's Proposition 200, which disallows illegal aliens from getting state benefits and forces state workers to ask for documentation when people vote.
Legal challenge to Arizona law on illegals dismissed
The 9th Circuit holding two common sense decisions in two weeks in a piece of news all of us can cheer.
Last week, the ultra-liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco held that a school in Hawaii could not exclude white students. Shockingly, this week this same court once again found itself making a decision with some common sense - it upheld Arizona's Proposition 200, which disallows illegal aliens from getting state benefits and forces state workers to ask for documentation when people vote.
Legal challenge to Arizona law on illegals dismissed
A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 200 in Arizona, which prohibits illegal aliens from receiving some public benefits, has been dismissed by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
The suit, brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and Friendly House, a Phoenix-based nonprofit social service agency, was dismissed by U.S. Appeals Court Judges Alfred T. Goodwin, Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Thomas M. Reavley, sitting as a visiting judge. The panel said the plaintiffs had not shown they had been injured by implementation of the new law.
"The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The district court record reveals that there was no case or controversy between plaintiffs and the state of Arizona when pleadings were before the district court," the panel said.
Proposition 200, which passed in the November elections with 56 percent of the vote, requires state and local government employees to verify the immigration status of those seeking public benefits they are prohibited from receiving under federal law and to report to federal immigration authorities any applicant who is in violation of U.S. immigration law.
It also subjects state employees to criminal charges if they fail to report illegals, and requires people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The 9th Circuit holding two common sense decisions in two weeks in a piece of news all of us can cheer.
