Federal judge halts Arpaio's worksite raids

Source: Arizona Republic

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday blocking Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery from enforcing two state laws that make it a felony for undocumented immigrants to use stolen identities to obtain work.

The injunction essentially prevents Arpaio from continuing to conduct his controversial worksite raids to arrest undocumented workers and Montgomery from prosecuting them.

... In Monday's ruling, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell said that the two state laws that criminalize the act of identify theft for the purpose of obtaining employment are likely unconstitutional because they are pre-empted by federal law.

"We are thrilled that the ruling recognizes that the Maricopa County sheriff and Maricopa County attorney are not above he law," said Jessica Bansal, litigation director for the National Day Labor Organizing Network, one of several groups that filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ID theft laws.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2015/01/05/arpaio-worksite-raids-immigration-judge-halted/21308187/