Arizona appeals immigration law; dozens held in protests

Jul 29, 2010, 23:43 GMT

Phoenix, Arizona - Lawyers for the state of Arizona lodged an appeal Thursday against an injunction blocking much of the state's controversial new immigration law as about 50 demonstrators were arrested.

The injunction blocked the most controversial sections of the law from taking effect as the rest of the law came into force on Thursday.

But tensions were still high as protesters marched through the streets of Arizona's capital Phoenix sparking a confrontation with police - many of whom were patrolling in full riot gear.

At least two dozen of them were arrested when they blocked the street outside the headquarters of the Maricopa County sheriff.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio strongly supported the law and has pledged to continue his crackdown on undocumented immigrants despite the injunction.

Another 25 people were held at the county jail after chaining themselves to the entrance of the lock-up to protest the earlier arrests, Arpaio said at a press conference.

Former Arizona senator Alfredo Gutierrez was handcuffed when he tried to enter the federal court in Phoenix in an act of civil disobedience.

'The victory that the judge gave us is just temporary,' he told the German Press Agency dpa, before his arrest. 'The reality is that this climate of hate, the rulers of this state who want to crush our community and want to deport us out of our state are still in power.'

The protests came a day after a federal judge placed a temporary injunction on the most controversial parts of the law, which would have required immigrants to carry their documents with them at all time. The law would also have required police to check the immigration status of anyone they arrested whom they suspected of being in the country illegally.

The law enjoys strong support among voters in Arizona, however, and Governor Jan Brewer has pledged to take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court.

Brewer said in a statement that her attorneys had filed papers asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review - and overturn - the partial injunction ordered by Judge Susan Bolton.

The lawyers argued that Bolton either abused her discretion or based her decision on an erroneous legal premise on blocking key provisions of the new law from taking effect.

'Today I filed an expedited appeal with the Ninth Circuit asking the court to lift the injunction put in place by Judge Bolton yesterday against certain provisions of SB 1070 and to allow those provisions to go into effect pending a decision on the merits of this case,' Brewer said in a statement.

'I have also asked the Ninth Circuit to expedite the briefing schedule and its ruling, since Congress and the president have once again failed to act,' she added.