A narrow rebuke of Arizona's immigration law

THE DECISION by U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton to block the enforcement of several provisions of a controversial Arizona immigration law is a good first step toward reversing a discriminatory measure that should never have been adopted.

Most important, Judge Bolton was right to prevent state law enforcement officers from demanding immigration papers from those they "reasonably" believe are in the United States illegally. The judge noted that such stops would probably mean that legal residents and U.S. citizens would be "swept up" by this obnoxious and patently xenophobic requirement. She also put a hold on enforcement of a new provision that would have subjected immigrants to criminal penalties for failing to apply for or carry alien registration papers. These provisions were set to go into effect Thursday. The judge must decide in coming weeks whether the parts of the law she froze in place should be permanently struck down as unconstitutional.

The Phoenix-based judge's decision came in the wake of a challenge from the Justice Department, which argued that the Arizona law usurped the federal government's exclusive constitutional authority to establish immigration policy. The department also argued that the state's interference in immigration policies would impermissibly force the federal government to redirect resources away from the priorities established by the U.S. government and that such interference would trample on the federal government's prerogatives regarding foreign policy.

These arguments did not always carry the day. The judge, for example, analyzed each part of the law individually, declining the Justice Department's invitation to find the entire law constitutionally offensive. Using this approach, the judge concluded that Arizona was within its bounds in allowing legal residents of the state to sue state officials or agencies that restrict enforcement of federal immigration laws. We would have preferred a broader ruling striking down the law in its entirety, but Judge Bolton issued a thoughtful and well-reasoned decision that merits respect.

There is little doubt that some on the right will find reason to berate Judge Bolton and use her decision as political fodder to stir up anti-immigrant, anti-court and anti-federal sentiment. This would be wrong. What is needed is not more vitriol but increased cooperation in crafting a comprehensive federal immigration reform bill to address the legitimate concerns of states such as Arizona.