PHOENIX – A Federal judge in Phoenix today blocked three of the most controversial sections of SB 1070, the law aimed at undocumented immigrants in Arizona.

Judge Susan Bolton, who was appointed to the Federal bench by President Clinton, ruled that the State of Arizona could not require law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of persons they stop for other reasons and whom they suspect are in the country illegally. Nor, the judge ordered, can Arizona require that individuals carry papers proving their immigration status. The law also would have made it illegal for undocumented people to seek employment in Arizona: that, too, was invalidated.

The law will go into effect on Thursday, but without three of the measures that most concerned civil libertarians.

Governor Jan Brewer (R) issued a statement saying she would appeal the ruling, adding “The fight is far from over.”

Maria Hinojosa talks with Professor Jenny Rivera of the CUNY Law School and the founder and director of the school’s Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality about today’s decision.

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