Migrants, Justice and the Border by Patty Holley

Student Mock Supreme Court Competition

Arguing the Constitutionality of Protect Arizona Now (PAN)
2:00 p.m. Wednesday April 7, 2004
Location:  La Sala Ballroom
ASU West Campus

I attended the Mock Supreme Court presentations regarding the constitutionality of the Protect Arizona Now (PAN) initiative that is expected to appear on the voting ballot in this November’s elections.  This initiative seems to be very controversial and I was able to observe two different perspectives of this issue. 

Those who argued that PAN is constitutional presented an interesting viewpoint in that the main focus of this legislation is to require specific identification methods when both registering to vote and then again when casting your ballot on Election Day.  Supporters stated that the requirement of verification of citizenship to receive social/state services is not the main goal of PAN.  They argued from the point of view that illegal immigrants have committed voter fraud and this regulation should reduce voter fraud in the United States.  I found it interesting that not one of them mentioned the financial burden that border states struggle under due to the vast amount of health services and other social services that are being utilized by immigrants. 

Those who argued against the constitutionality of PAN stated that the basis of their argument was the fact that immigration is a Federal statute and therefore, not an arena in which any State legislation should be involved.  They presented case law and prior court decisions that support this directive that immigration is not to be legislated upon by individual states.  One case in particular that I heard mentioned several times is “Statue of Liberty V. Arizona.”  This court case supported the argument that PAN is unconstitutional under the equal protection section of the 14^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

For the most part, I found this mock Supreme Court session to be interesting and informative.  I understand how complex this issue is based upon the various articles and other research that we have performed for this class.