U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued an order restraining the State of Arizona from enforcing significant parts of Arizona’s new restrictive law criminalizing and limiting the activity of illegal immigrants. The order prohibits the enforcement of provisions that: require officers to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person; creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien registration papers; creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work; and authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States.

The court found that these sections of the law are most likely preempted by Federal law and that the government is likely to succeed in have these sections found to be unconstitutional. Furthermore it found that the failure to issue a temporary restraining order banning these sections would result in irreparable harm to the Federal government.

While the judge refused to grant a restraining order regarding other sections of the bill and the Federal government did not challenge all of the section, Thus some sections will go into effect today the granting of the restraining order was seen as an important if temporary step by those who oppose the bill,