WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Renee Ellmers released the following statement from her office in Washington this afternoon:

"I applaud the Supreme Court for upholding the rights of law enforcement officers in today's decision on Arizona's immigration law. The Court affirmed the constitutionality of law enforcement to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws if 'reasonable suspicion' exists that the person is in the United States illegally. We are a nation of laws, and, without due process and enforcement of them, our entire legal system is put at risk of ineptitude."

"While President Obama continues to attack the law, he refuses to acknowledge his duty to either enforce it or advocate for a serious and permanent legislative alternative. His announcement last week of granting amnesty by executive order to thousands of illegal immigrants only reinforces the fact that his actions are merely for political gain and have no real effect on current immigration reform. The state of Arizona is in a crisis as murders and drug wars pervade along its border, and it is unconscionable for the President of the United States to attack them for enforcing a federal law that this administration refuses to execute."

Today, the Supreme Court struck down parts of Arizona's immigration law and upheld part of the law in a 5-3 ruling.  The majority overturned provisions of the Arizona law that would allow state law enforcement officials to address illegal immigration in the absence of federal action. They concluded that the federal government has the ultimate authority to decide who will be held on immigration charges and who will be deported. 

However, the court upheld a provision that would require Arizona police to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws if “reasonable suspicion” exists that the person is in the United States illegally. 

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For more information, please visit Congresswoman Ellmers’ website at www.ellmers.house.gov or call (202) 225-4531.

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