Obama to challenge Ariz. immigration law

Obama administration officials have decided to file a suit to block a much-disputed Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigration, according to several news reports. The decision to intervene was confirmed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in an interview last week with an Ecuadorian journalist. "President Obama has spoken out against the law because he thinks that the federal government should be determining immigration policy," Clinton said in the interview. "And the Justice Department, under his direction, will be bringing a lawsuit against the act." "But the more important commitment that President Obama has made is to try to introduce and pass comprehensive immigration reform," she said. "That is what we need. Everyone knows it, and the president is committed to doing it." When asked whether Clinton misspoke, Mark Toner, the director of the State Department's press office, told Bloomberg News: "The secretary's words stand for themselves." A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department "continues to review the law." But other administration officials said the decision to intervene has been made, only the details of the suit need to be worked out. The Arizona law gives local police greater power to check the legal status of people they stop and makes illegal immigration a state crime. Opponents fear the law will lead to racial profiling. The law has sparked boycotts and protests, both around the country and in Boston. On May 5, the Boston City Council passed a resolution urging that business ties be cut with Arizona in protest over the law. Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined the council, saying he would consider canceling city contracts with Arizona companies that support the law. The controversy has even carried over into Boston's sports scene. Demonstrators gathered outside Fenway Park this week to protest the arrival of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in town for a three-game series against the Red Sox.