Hi everyone,

Since we have been discussion immigration in NYC in class recently, I thought I would share some relevant news that concerns immigration. On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from the cities of Farmer’s Branch, Texas and Hazleton, Pennsylvania that wanted to enforce stricter laws regarding illegal immigration. The Supreme Court decided not to hear the cases, in which the towns wanted to revive ordinances aiming to keep illegal immigrants from being able to rent housing. The last time the Supreme Court dealt with an immigration case was in 2012 when it partially upheld Arizona’s immigration law, letting police check people’s papers if there was “reasonable suspicion.” These two cases address a bigger issue about the power of local governments versus the federal government to monitor and make laws regarding immigration. What do you think about the Supreme Court’s decision? Who should be responsible for policing immigration- local or federal government? And to what extent should it even be regulated?

Here is a link to an article further discussing the news:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/03/us-usa-court-immigration-idUSBREA221C220140303