· Chicago Tribune · By Laura Zuckerman · From the Border Crossing Law Firm media archive.
Reuters reports that a Montana judge struck down LR-121's immigration-screening requirements as an unlawful intrusion on federal authority. Shahid Haque said the ruling confirmed that states could not create their own immigration classifications. Although the court preserved a reporting provision, it also prohibited the state from independently deciding who lacked lawful status.
National coverage of the decision marked the culmination of Shahid and MIJA's two-year challenge and placed the Montana result in the larger debate over state immigration legislation.