The Supreme Court announced Monday morning that it will consider a lawsuit challenging an immigration-related Arizona law that threatens businesses in the state with revocation of their right to operate if they hire illegal immigrants.

The suit created some awkwardness for the Obama Administration. Backing the challenge (call it Option A) would have put the administration in the position of arguing that the so-called employer sanctions law, signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano back when she was governor of Arizona, was unconstitutional or at least illegally usurped federal authority. Opposing the challenge would have potentially made it harder for the Obama Administration to bring its own lawsuit, expected this week, against the new Arizona law giving local police the right to enforce immigration laws.

After taking its sweet time, the Obama Administration recently took Option A, and argued that the law Napolitano signed (albeit somewhat reluctantly) should be struck down.

Now, the Supreme Court is protracting the argument by agreeing to hear the challenge to the law brought by Arizona businesses as well as civil liberties and Latino groups. The State of Arizona and state officials are the defendants in the case.

Fourteen House members, led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), recently asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to raise the issue with Solicitor General Elena Kagan at her confirmation hearings. Her name does not appear on the government’s recent filing on the issue, but it was clearly under discussion in her office before she got the Supreme Court nod.

Article source: http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/

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