Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 12/12/11

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will decide whether Arizona may impose its strict immigration law, which was passed last year but most provisions were blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in April.

In part, the law would require Arizona police to question people they stop about their immigration status and require the immigration status of people who are arrested be determined before they are released.
In announcing it will review the law, the Supreme Court noted Justice Elana Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision to rule on the law.

Kagan worked on the issue during her time as solicitor general for the Obama administration, which has challenged parts of the law in court as being irreconcilable with federal immigration laws and policies. The administration had urged the court not to rule on the Arizona law.

The Obama administration has, however, cracked down on illegal immigration in other ways, departing more than 1 million illegal immigrants in fewer than three years.

Arizona is not the only state to approach the immigration issue on its own.

In March, the Utah Legislature passed HB116,  an immigration reform bill that would allow the state to issue guest worker permits to immigrants. To put it into practice, though, the state will need a waiver from the federal government.

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