For the last two months, community groups across Arizona have been calling for the Department of Justice to take legal action against the state’s newest threat to public safety: SB1070. To the relief of many, the Department of Justice announced today its decision to file suit against the law.

“We are relieved to see the Obama administration take serious action against 1070’s encroachment on federal powers,” said Jennifer Allen, Executive Director of the Border Action Network, a human rights community group in Arizona.  “Controlling immigration is a federal responsibility. The federal government had to step up and challenge Arizona’s attempt to undermine the federal government’s constitutional obligations.”

In the months since Arizona Governor Brewer signed SB1070 into law on April 23rd, several organizations, including Border Action Network, the ACLU and MALDEF, have filed lawsuits against it.  For nearly two months, President Obama, Secretary Napolitano, and Attorney General Holder have criticized the new law, but today’s lawsuit is the first action to support those criticisms.  In the meantime, nearly 30 states across the US have expressed interest in replicating the law.

“This law is bad for Arizona and would be disastrous for the rest of the country to replicate,” said Allen.  Her group and others anxiously await the court’s response to a request for an injunction before the law’s implementation date on July 29th.

“We are already seeing and hearing immigrant and Latino families who are afraid to call on law enforcement. This fear frays the relationship between law enforcement and communities and makes their jobs more difficult.”