In case you have not heard, Arizona recently passed a law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote. This requirement was passed in 2004 along with a number of other anti-immigration laws as part of Proposition 200.
Soon after, a coalition of civil rights groups and Native American activists brought forward a challenge to this law in the United States Federal Court. This portion of Proposition 200 was challenge in the Ninth Circuit of Appeals which finally issued a ruling on October 26, 2010.
The Ninth Circuit of Appeals ruled that requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote was a VIOLATION of Federal law. Federal voter registration requirements supersedes Proposition 200 and therefore federal law must be adhered to rather than the state law passed by Arizona. The majority called this extra requirement passed by Arizona to be an unnecessary hurdle.
For immigration reformists everywhere this is a step in the right direction. Though earlier this year the DREAM Act (Immigration Reform bill) failed in Congress, it is clear the Federal Court system will still uphold the Federal Law of the land and not allow rogue states such as Arizona to continue on their path of discrimination against immigrants.