Appeals Court Weighs Immigrant Law

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona and her lawyers defended the state’s strict new immigration law in a federal appeals court on Monday, facing a panel of three judges who sharply questioned the way the law would be implemented. Lawyers from the Justice Department argued that central parts of the state law were unconstitutional and would interfere with federal law enforcement.

In July, just one day before the law was to take effect, a lower court ruled that the state could not require local law enforcement officials to check on the immigration status of people they stop, as the new law would. Nor could they require local officials to detain anyone they suspected of entering the country illegally, the lower court said.

Governor Brewer is appealing that decision. Whatever the outcome from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals here, it too is expected to be appealed.

During the hearing on Monday, the appellate judges abruptly ended a discussion of a provision of the state law that would forbid illegal immigrants from working in the state, saying that a decision in another case already blocked the state from making it a crime for such immigrants to work.

The judges focused on the central question of whether a state could take it upon itself to enforce federal laws.

“If I don’t pay my income tax, can California come along and sue me?” asked Judge Carlos T. Bea.

John J. Bouma, the lawyer for Arizona, responded by saying: “I don’t think California would be particularly interested.”

The panel also grappled with whether police officers are free to question the people they stop about other crimes besides the grounds for the stop. The judges pointedly asked lawyers for the Justice Department whether the practice should never be allowed.

But they appeared more vexed by a provision of the state law that would allow local officers to hold suspects until their immigration status could be determined.

“How long would that be?” Judge Richard A. Paez. “Twenty-four hours? Forty-eight hours? A week?”

Mr. Bouma said that federal immigration officials typically get back to local officers within 11 minutes.