Supreme Court takes up controversial immigration law

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a controversial state anti-illegal immigration law which has been challenged by President Barack Obama's administration. The law in the southwestern state of Arizona would authorize police to stop suspected illegal immigrants and demand proof of citizenship without probable cause, a power that the administration argues infringes on the authority of the federal government. In a document made public Monday, the court announced it would consider the Arizona case, with a spokesperson saying a hearing on it "should be during this session," which ends in June 2012. "We look forward to arguing our point of view in that case," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Arizona has asked the court's nine justices to authorize the most controversial provisions of the law, which were blocked by a federal judge the day before it was to go into effect July 29, 2010. Considered the toughest state law against illegal immigration when it was passed last year, it makes it a misdemeanor crime for foreigners not to carry their immigration papers with them at all times. Under the law, local and state police are empowered to ask for immigration papers during routine stops on the basis of reasonable suspicion. Critics have charged that the law would encourage racial profiling, while supporters say tougher rules are needed to curb illegal immigration. After appeals in the lower federal courts, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer went to the Supreme Court for a decision on the law's constitutionality. The Obama administration has also challenged strict new anti-immigration laws in Alabama, South Carolina and Utah, and it is considering challenges to laws adopted by Indiana and Georgia.