Not to get too far into the weeds, but to amplify a point Heather made below about today’s Arizona ruling:
The only lawful aliens to whom the judge could point who would not necessarily have proof of status “readily available” to them, however (neither the federal government nor the judge asserted that proof of status was “unavailable” to such individuals), were visitors from visa-waiver countries [my emphasis — MK], asylum applicants who have not yet received a green card, victims of certain enumerated crimes such as trafficking who are assisting law enforcement, and women who have petitioned for relief under the Violence Against Women Act. But presumably the lawful status of such aliens would be known to the federal government. If an Arizona officer inquired into those aliens’ immigration status, ICE would tell the officer that the person is authorized to be in the country, ending the investigation.
It’s actually better than that. Visitors from visa-waiver countries have their duration of stay stamped in their passports, so they do so have “readily available” to them proof of legal status, and the federal government obviously knows this. A colleague was shocked that DHS and DOJ would tell the court such a “complete bald faced lie.” Considering they also lied about the likely increased burden on the Law Enforcement Support Center, you’ve got to figure that the Obama people are desperate. Though if these lies are exposed in the subsequent litigation it may not make much difference anyway, since the Clinton-appointee’s ruling “verges on bad faith,” as Heather put it.