Obama’s DoJ Sues South Carolina Over New Immigration Law – OpEd
By Jim Kouri
The Obama administration, through Attorney General Eric Holder, yesterday filed a lawsuit against a new immigration law, this time in South Carolina. The White House is accusing that state of interfering with the federal government’s authority on immigration policy.
South Carolina now joins Arizona and Alabama in being civilly prosecuted for attempting to halt the flow of illegal aliens into the state.
The Justice Department alleges that portions of the South Carolina’s law are “unconstitutional,” and the state should not be allowed to implement the popular new law that’s scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2012.
As with the Alabama statute, the law requires local law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of everyone they detain, a policy that progressives, illegal alien supporters and Democrat lawmakers say will result in the harassment and detention of legal aliens.
“Today’s lawsuit makes clear once again that the Justice Department will not hesitate to challenge a state’s immigration law … if we find that the law interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.
“It is understandable that communities remain frustrated with the broken immigration system, but a patchwork of state laws is not the solution and will only create problems,” he added.
However, the cities and states declaring themselves sanctuaries for illegal aliens, while violating federal law, remain free from civil litigation by the Obama Justice Department. Recently, Washington, DC, and New York City officially announced their “sanctuary” status and constraints placed on police officers’ interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Even more troubling is the Obama Administration’s lack of resolve in making certain all states and cities comply with immigration laws and policies, a former New York City police official told the Law Enforcement Examiner.
“Usually, Obama’s minions are more interested in harassing and denigrating states and cities that attempt to enforce immigration laws,” said former NYPD detective and security firm owner Sidney Franes. “But they turn a blind eye to those who obstruct justice in the name of ‘sanctuary’ for criminal aliens.”
