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Faith Issues/American Center for Law and Justice The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), representing 57 members of Congress and more than 65,000 Americans, said yesterday it is optimistic that the US Supreme Court will uphold the constitutionality of the Arizona immigration law based on the oral arguments that took place yesterday. “What became very clear during the intense questioning is that a majority of the Justices seem to believe that Arizona has a legitimate role in the enforcement of laws designed to protect its citizens and borders,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, who attended oral...

Republicans on Tuesday boycotted a Democratic-led subcommittee hearing on Arizona’s controversial immigration bill. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the ranking member of the subcommittee, called the hearing “election-year theater.” He said it would do nothing to further attempts at reforming the country’s immigration system. “This is not an attempt at having a sincere hearing on the merits," Cornyn said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the Democrat majority seems to have embraced President Obama's ‘mañana’ approach to immigration reform.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) also said the hearing was “strictly political theater” aimed at garnering publicity and trying to influence Wednesday’s oral arguments before...

Senate Democrats are making plans to force a floor vote on legislation that would invalidate Arizona’s controversial immigration statute if the Supreme Court upholds the law this summer. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) will announce the fallback legislation at a hearing on the Arizona law Tuesday, a day before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a suit to determine whether Arizona had the authority to enact the 2010 state crackdown. The legislation would have little chance of passing in a stalemated Senate or being approved by a GOP-held House, but it would allow Democrats to push their electoral advantage...

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower court decision that blocked the most contested provisions of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that a federal judge did not abuse her discretion in blocking provisions of the law that would, among other things, require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws. The decision is a victory for the Obama administration,

Pogrom: etymology--Yiddish, from Russian, literally, devastation. "An organized massacre of helpless people; specifically, such a massacre of Jews." -- Merriam-Webster Chris Matthews has pulled off the rare unassisted triple-play of inanity. On this evening's Hardball, he: 1. Argued that enforcing the Arizona immigration law would put police officers in danger because illegals caught in a stop would be under tremendous "moral pressure" to use violence to escape. 2. Repeatedly abused a Republican guest. For the sin of disagreeing with him on immigration law, Matthews variously slimed Arizona state Sen. Rick Murphy as a "B.S. artist," a "hopeless right-winger," and "not...

President Obama's job-approval rating just hit an all-time low. And there's a pattern behind the trifecta of issues that are driving the drop -- the oil spill, the Arizona immigration-policing law and the fallout from the Greek crisis. After four months of hovering between a low of 46 percent approval and a high of 49 percent, Obama just fell to 42 percent in the daily Rasmussen polls. What's hurting him, and why? The president originally seized on each of these issues to make populist political hay. But then the problem wouldn't go away -- and voters began to realize that...

April 29, 2010 Texas Gov: Arizona Immigration Law 'Not Right' for Texas Associated Press Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement: "I have concerns with portions of the law passed in Arizona and believe it would not be the right direction for Texas." AUSTIN, Texas -- Arizona's tough new illegal immigration enforcement law would not be right for Texas, Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday, upholding the state's long-held tradition of rejecting harsh anti-immigrant policies. The Arizona law will require local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the...

We know one thing for sure about the fight over Arizona's new immigration law. Civil-rights groups will file a lawsuit trying to kill the law and will ask a federal judge to issue an injunction to keep it from taking effect as scheduled this summer. What we don't know is how those proceedings will be affected by the Obama Justice Department, which is contemplating the highly unusual step of filing its own suit against the state of Arizona. Also unknown is the influence of President Obama himself, who has gone out of his way to raise questions -- some of...

Miami, Florida (CNN) - Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, an influential Hispanic voice in the Republican Party, warned Tuesday that Arizona's tough new immigration law could have "unintended consequences," but said the legislation is the product of a "law enforcement crisis" going on in the state. The law, enacted last week by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, requires police to question people suspected of being in the country illegally. Critics of the law argue that it will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics and civil rights violations. Rubio discussed the bill for the first time after a campaign event in West...