A judge helps the bad guys in Arizona

IBD:

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One could almost hear the cheers from the badlands of Durango and Sonora, home of the biggest Mexican drug and people-smuggling cartels, to read District Court Judge Susan Bolton's ruling effectively striking down Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070.

Bolton blocked the main provisions of Arizona's law requiring state lawmen to ask people they come into legitimate contact with to show documentation if there's reasonable suspicion they're here illegally.

So now a van driver arrested by a state trooper for driving 120 miles per hour with 30 people stuffed under his floorboards will still get a speeding ticket, but the officer can't ask about his immigration status. Nothing to see here; move along.

Bolton also blocked provisions requiring foreigners to carry papers at all times (as federal law already requires), as well as a section prohibiting public solicitation of work. Likewise, a section allowing warrantless arrests on probable cause was tossed.

She allowed two provisions — one on people-smuggling, the other on the transport of illegal immigrants — to stand. But how effective will they be if officers can't ask questions?

Claiming legal precedent, Bolton wrote that the Feds would be burdened with too many requests to deport illegal immigrants, which would interfere with their "priorities." And those here legally also would be "burdened" by requests to show ID.

Burdened? It's already federal law, the law of the land.

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So the delay itself amounts to a victory for the law's foes. In addition to paying for the expensive litigation, Arizona can look forward to a growing bill for housing, schooling, jailing and providing "free" health care for the illegals who will now flow into the state.

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The law would not have interfered with the federal priorities because Arizona would be keeping those who violated the law. The feds could continue to ignore these illegals as they do now. The main inconvenience to the federal immigration effort would be the embarrassment of the public knowing what a poor job they are doing because of their priorities.