Immigration law regarding foreign citizens is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people in matters such as citizenship.
A court order has been issued in South Carolina, blocking the enforcement of state immigration laws including a provision that allows the detention of people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally while their status is reviewed. The laws are a part of Act 69 which was signed into law by Republican Governor Nikki Haley back in 2011.
Bloomberg News reported that the Supreme Court’s Arizona ruling stated that the state’s law “does not authorize prolonging the detention of a person in jail or prison simply to determine the person’s immigration status.”
An attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Michelle LaPointe, is calling the outcome “a victory” both for those who challenged the laws as well as for everyone in South Carolina.
Michelle LaPointe reported in a statement that, “Three years ago, South Carolina became one of several Southern states that attempted to legislate away people’s constitutional rights,” adding that according to Bloomberg News, “We are glad that the most egregious portions of this mean-spirited law will be permanently blocked.”
State Solicitor General Robert Cook, said in a letter filed with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office that, the measure does not allow state and local officials to arrest or keep custody of a person believed to be in the country unlawfully “for any purpose, even to transfer the individual to federal custody.”
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