Secretary Clinton Says Obama Administration Will Sue Over Arizona Racial Profiling Law

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CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – In an interview with an Ecuadorian news station, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the U.S. Justice Department, under President Obama's direction, plans to bring a lawsuit challenging Arizona's recently enacted racial profiling law.

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with other leading rights groups, filed a lawsuit in May challenging the constitutionality of the law.

The interview, which occurred on June 8, is hitting American news outlets today.

The following can be attributed to Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel:

"The time for the Obama administration to take action against this egregious law is now. We urge the administration to move swiftly to stop this un-American law from going into effect. Every day the administration delays in taking action against this extreme measure is a day closer to its scheduled implementation and one more day that the administration has failed to act on its condemnation of this law.

"The administration should also take other concrete steps, in addition to filing a lawsuit, against the Arizona law. Administration agencies, including the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, should suspend all cooperation with government officials and agencies in the state of Arizona on immigration enforcement matters as long as this law, which relies on racial stereotyping and profiling and interferes with federal immigration priorities and policies, remains on the books. Immediate action is essential to deter other states and localities from taking similar steps."

A link to the interview in which Clinton made the statement can be found at: www.therightscoop.com/hillary-clinton-yes-obama-is-filing-a-lawsuit-against-the-arizona-law

More information about the Arizona law, including an ACLU video and slide show, can be found at: www.aclu.org/what-happens-arizona-stops-arizona

More information on the ACLU's lawsuit, Friendly House et al. v. Whiting, can be found at: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights-racial-justice/aclu-and-civil-rights-groups-ask-court-block-implementation-arizona

Co-counsel on the lawsuit are ACLU, MALDEF, National Immigration Law Center, Asian Pacific American Legal Center – a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP and Roush, McCracken, Guerrero, Miller & Ortega.