Arizona governor’s lawyers to file first brief Thursday in appeal of immigration law ruling

Ariz. governor to file brief in immigration battle

PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer’s lawyers on Thursday plan to file the first brief in their appeal of a ruling that put the most controversial elements of Arizona’s new immigration law on hold.

Brewer wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reverse the ruling U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton made last month.

The governor’s office says Bolton abused her discretion by applying the wrong legal standards and basing her ruling on the federal government’s speculation that it would be harmed by Arizona’s law. Brewer says the judge ignored key provisions of federal law that allow states to enforce immigration law.

The U.S. Justice Department went to court in a bid to invalidate the law.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment Thursday.

The governor faces a Thursday deadline for filing the brief but hadn’t done so by early afternoon.

Bolton blocked provisions of the law that requires immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers and that require police, while enforcing other laws, to question people’s immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally.

But the judge let other portions take effect late last month, such a ban on blocking traffic when people seek or offer day-labor services on streets, and amendments to existing state immigration laws.