Supreme Court strikes down most parts of controversial Ariz. immigration law

The law had made it a crime for non-citizens who are unlawfully present in the United States to work in Arizona and requires police officers to check the immigration status of any person whom they have probable cause to believe is an illegal immigrant.

The decision was a victory for President Obama who had criticized the law, saying it “threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.” The Justice Department moved quickly in 2010 to block enforcement of the law.