Protests assail Arizona's immigrant law; sheriff vows to enforce

PHOENIX — Hundreds of marchers protesting Arizona's new immigration law took to the Phoenix streets Thursday and the county sheriff launched raids to arrest illegal migrants, signs the court ruling that stopped most of the law will not quell the debate over illegal immigration.

As expected, the state swiftly appealed the ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, who on Wednesday temporarily halted key parts of the law one day before they were to take effect.

Fallout from the ruling spread beyond Arizona: The judge was threatened; protesters rallied in cities from Los Angeles to New York; and lawmakers or candidates in as many as 18 states said they wanted to push similar measures.

Protesters began marching before dawn, fanning out across the city, staging acts of civil disobedience and arguing that Arizona remains inhospitable to immigrants. At least 23 protesters were arrested and more were detained elsewhere.

"It's not over yet," said Vanessa Bustos, 24, a Phoenix woman who chained herself to five other activists, blocking the door to the Maricopa County jail. "There are other bills being enacted against the Latino community."

Showing that Arizona can take strong steps against illegal immigrants despite the ruling, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio began his 17th sweep Thursday, in which his deputies and "posse" volunteers stop people for sometimes minor violations, such as jaywalking, and then check their immigration status. Sheriff's spokesman Brian Lee said deputies arrested four people: two had warrants for suspended licenses, one had a suspended license and one was illegally carrying a firearm. He did not know if any were illegal immigrants.

Arpaio has said the temporary injunction against the law, SB 1070, doesn't stop him from driving illegal immigrants from the state.

"Nothing is going to deter this sheriff and my office, including rulings by the federal judge," Arpaio said. "It's going to be business as usual."

In the state's appeal, Gov. Jan Brewer asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn the temporary injunction as soon as possible. Oral arguments could occur in September.

Technically, SB 1070 took effect Thursday, but Bolton's ruling barred its key provisions until a trial on the bill's constitutionality. Those provisions would have required police to determine the status of people they stop and also suspect are in the country illegally. It also would have made it a state crime to lack immigration documents.

Some of the measure's supporters argued that the provisions halted by Bolton would not have changed much. Everyone booked into the jails in the state's most populous counties has their status checked, and police can ask anyone about their immigration status.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.