By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
TUCSON — A federal judge blocked the state Tuesday from implementing Proposition 200, at least for the next three weeks.
Judge David Bury granted a temporary restraining order after lawyers hired by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund argued that people will be harmed if the voter-approved initiative is allowed to take effect.
Attorney Hector Villagra said individuals are likely to be denied benefits to which they are legally entitled.
Villagra said those arguments are not undermined by the fact that state Attorney General Terry Goddard concluded the effects of Proposition 200 are limited. He said Goddard’s legal opinion is not binding.
Beyond that, Villagra said the initiative improperly and illegally makes state employees enforcers of federal immigration law.
Attorneys for the state responded only that the will of the voters is entitled to be obeyed.
But Bury, in his four-page ruling, said the challengers have raised “serious questions” about the legality of the initiative.
“It seems likely that if Proposition 200 were to become law, it would have a dramatic chilling effect upon undocumented alients who would otherwise be eligible for public benefits under federal law,” the judge wrote, even though the language of the initiative specifically exempts those programs mandated by federal law.
Tuesday’s decision is not the end of the matter. Bury has scheduled a full-blown hearing for Dec. 22 to determine whether to enjoin enforcement of the law until the merits and legality of Proposition 200 can be fully litigated. And that process could take months, if not longer.
The judge stressed that Tuesday’s ruling doesn’t mean he sides with foes of the initiative.
He said it shows only he “lacks sufficient information at this time” to decide the constitutionality of the measure.
Bury’s ruling affects only the part of Proposition 200 which requires applicants for “public benefits” to prove they are in this country legally. The same section also says government workers must report illegal entrants to federal immigration authorities or face possible jail time and fines.