Lawmakers react to Arizona immigration ruling

Jul 29, 2010 — USA Today

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are digging in to entrenched positions in reaction to a federal court ruling today that temporarily blocked key provisions of Arizona's controversial immigration law.

"The upshot is, we've got to get the border secure," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Fox News. "Rather than wasting their time on all this court stuff…give us the assets necessary to get our border secure."

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., said the decision underscored a need to pass a broader immigration bill. "For some, it would have been easy to ignore our Constitution and our laws and obey the impulses of the moment," Becerra said of the ruling. "Fortunately, commonsense prevailed."

Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat., said that, "there are no winners here – no matter what the courts ultimately decide, we will have wasted millions of dollars and our borders will still not be secure."

Other lawmakers posted their reaction on Twitter. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, vowed to "keep up efforts to protect rights to govern as a state." Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., wrote that, "American (people) demand Congress pass immigration reform now."

Hours before the Arizona law was to take effect, a U.S. District Court judge put several provisions on hold, including a provision that would give police the authority to check a suspect's immigration status during routine stops.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other congressional leaders have discussed taking up immigration legislation, but it's not clear how much attention the issue will receive in Congress before the November midterm election.