A federal judge in Phoenix ruled today that some key elements of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law cannot go into effect tomorrow, as originally planned, according to court documents.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton enjoined the sections of the law that allowed police officers to ask for immigration or citizenship documentation of anyone even suspected of being in the country illegally. “[T]he United States has demonstrated that … the mandatory immigration verification upon arrest requirement contained in [the Arizona law] is preempted by federal law,” she wrote in her ruling.

The judge also ruled “impermissible” the element of the state law that prohibited illegal immigrants from applying for work in Arizona, as it also conflicts with existing federal law.

On the other hand, the judge said that the law itself is not a restriction on entry to the United States overall, and does not restrict movement within the country once here. There, it does not constitute an effort to actually regulate immigration, a legal responsibility reserved for the federal government.

“The Court therefore finds that preserving the status quo through a preliminary injunction is less harmful than allowing state laws that are likely preempted by federal law to be enforced,” the judge wrote.

A report in The New York Times noted that the ruling came four days before 1,200 National Guard troops were expected to report to the Southwest border.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the state of Arizona are expected to appeal, the Times said, and the case is expected to head for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fremont suspends law

Meanwhile, the city council in Fremont, Neb., voted Tuesday to suspend a voter-approved city law that bans hiring or renting property to undocumented immigrants, the Associated Press reported.

The move will save the city money while it fights lawsuits opposing the law, officials told the AP.

Groups opposing the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, are expected to appear in court Wednesday to ask a federal judge to block the law until litigation is resolved. In a statement, the ACLU of Nebraska said the ordinance "invites racial profiling against Latinos and others who appear 'foreign.'"

"The city of Fremont did the right thing by stopping this unconstitutional ordinance from going into effect right now," Jennifer Chang Newell, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, said in the statement. "Allowing the law to go into effect before the court rules on whether it's constitutional would needlessly create even more divisiveness in the town and increased hostility toward Latinos and other people perceived as being foreign. In the meantime, we will continue to fight to stop this ordinance from ever going into effect."

In a unanimous vote, the council also decided to hire lawyer and professor Kris Kobach, who has offered to represent the town for free and helped draft both the Fremont ordinance and Arizona's new law, the AP said.

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