Eight months after Utah's immigration enforcement law was put on hold by
a federal judge, attorneys on both sides will have an opportunity on
Friday to argue the constitutionality of the measure.
The law created by House Bill 497 would have allowed police to check the
citizenship of anybody they arrest. It was initially blocked last May
by U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups, 14 hours after it went into
effect. At the time, Waddoups pointed at similarities to a contentious
Arizona law that is bound for the U.S. Supreme Court and said there was
sufficient evidence that at least some parts of the Utah law would be
found unconstitutional.
The American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigration Law Center
sued a week before the law went into effect to stop the implementation
of House Bill 497, saying it could lead to racial profiling. The U.S.
Justice Department joined the lawsuit in November, claiming the measure
usurped federal authority.
Lawyers for the Utah attorney general's office have maintained the law
is constitutional because it doesn't allow police to check the
citizenship of everyone they encounter. They argue lawmakers worked to
avoid the constitutional pitfalls of the Arizona law and passed a
significantly different bill.
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