Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement today following the ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton to block several of the controversial provisions contained in Arizona’s immigration law.  The judge put on hold parts of the law which require immigrants to carry their papers at all times, make it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places, and allow officers to make warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.  

“Clearly, immigration reform must be done and it must be done sooner rather than later.  I applaud Judge Bolton’s common sense decision today to stop these provisions from becoming law.   Immigration reform is a federal issue and it must be done by the federal government.  Arizona’s government is correct about one thing – we have delayed addressing this issue for too long in Washington.  We must deal with this important issue.  Arizona was frustrated and took the matter into its own hands.  That is not the answer, as 50 states cannot go their own way on this.

“I supported the McCain/Kennedy reform bill which passed the Senate during the Bush Administration but was effectively killed by the Republican-controlled House.  Immigration was supposedly solved under President Reagan, but we failed to protect our borders and now we are back in the same situation.  The 11 million undocumented workers are not going anywhere, and we must figure out a path to citizenship for them, secure our borders, and fix our immigration system.

“Arizona’s law is another important step to achieving comprehensive immigration reform, which I will continue to address with my House colleagues.”

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