Judge overturns Montana law requiring immigration checks for state services

Source: Reuters

BY LAURA ZUCKERMAN
Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:22pm EDT

(Reuters) - A Montana judge struck down a law requiring proof of legal immigration status to seek state services, saying the measure approved by Montana voters in 2012 tramples on the federal government's mandate to decide on immigration matters.

The law, approved by more than 80 percent of Montana voters in 2012, barred state agencies from providing everything from crime victim services to unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants.

A spokesman for Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, who defended the law, said his office received the written order by Montana District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock on Monday and would decide within 60 days whether to appeal.

The Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance, which brought the challenge, hailed Sherlock’s ruling as yet another sign that “states don’t have any business regulating federal immigration policy,” alliance President Shahid Haque-Hausrath told Reuters.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/23/us-usa-immigration-montana-idUSKBN0EY2EG20140623