Legal challenge over Utah immigration law nearing end, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says

Section 5 is not an attempt to help the federal government "but to supplant the federal government," they argue.

Waddoups conducted a six-hour hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction of the Utah law in February but held off ruling until the Supreme Court handed down the Arizona ruling.

The Supreme Court struck down key provisions of Arizona's crackdown on immigrants but ruled that a controversial section of the law regarding suspects' status could go forward.

The court ruled the state cannot criminalize the act of an undocumented person applying for a job nor establish a misdemeanor offense for the failure to carry identification that documents whether someone is in the United States legally. The court also ruled the state cannot arrest someone based solely on suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

After the Supreme Court ruled in late June, Waddoups allowed attorneys for the plaintiffs and the government additional time to file supplemental briefs. The law was temporarily enjoined pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

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