From Mahsa Aliaskari in GT's Los Angeles office

With a statewide E-verify mandate in 2008, Arizona pioneered state-led immigration enforcement measures, and since then a number of states have adopted similar measures. Arizona, meanwhile, continues with its efforts to address immigration and the undocumented population working and residing in the state at a time when the federal government is failing to act.

Our recent GT Alert discusses the latest development in this battle, when, on April 11, the state was unsuccessful in challenging a U.S. District Court injunction blocking key provisions of the controversial Arizona law, known as S.B. 1070, in a case brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Siding with the Obama administration, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s ruling enforcing the injunction (United States v. Arizona, 9th Cir., No. 10-16645,4/11/11). S.B. 1070 took effect on July 29, 2010. However, one day before that, on July 28, the district court granted a preliminary injunction, blocking certain provisions of the law from going into effect.