PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s frustrations over federal enforcement of the state’s border with Mexico spawned a movement nearly a decade ago to have local police confront illegal immigration. Now, the state’s experiment in immigration enforcement is falling apart in the courts.

A ruling Friday that struck down the state’s 2005 immigrant smuggling law marks the latest in a string of restrictions placed by the courts on Arizona’s effort to get local police to take action on illegal immigration. The smuggling law, like similar state statutes, was tossed because a judge concluded it conflicted with the federal government’s immigration powers.

“There may be some broad sympathy within a constituency for these laws, but that constituency isn’t enough to overcome the problems those laws pose,” Peter Spiro, a Temple University law professor who specializes in immigration law.

For years in Arizona, many officials resisted suggestions that local and state police agencies confront illegal immigration, long considered the sole province of the federal government. But the notion gained political traction as voters grew frustrated over the state’s status as the nation’s then-busiest immigrant smuggling hub and over what critics said was inadequate border protection by Washington.

A small number of the state’s immigration laws have been upheld, including a key section of Arizona’s landmark 2010 immigration enforcement law that requires police to check people’s immigration status under certain circumstances. But the courts have slowly dismantled other Arizona laws and policies.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Friday threw out the smuggling law as part of the Obama administration’s challenge of the state’s 2010 immigration law, which made a minor change to the 2005 statute. The dispute over the smuggling law is all that remains of the administration’s challenge of the 2010 law.

Gov. Jan Brewer’s office, the chief defender of the 2010 law, didn’t immediately respond to messages left Saturday.

Jonathan Paton, a former Republican lawmaker from Tucson who was one of the smuggling law’s top sponsors, said the Obama administration’s efforts to overturn the smuggling statute is evidence that Washington doesn’t care about Arizona’s problems. “It basically shows this administration has no intention to enforce its own laws or let the state enforce its laws,” Paton said.

The U.S. Justice Department, which pressed the challenge on behalf of the Obama administration, issued a statement saying it was pleased with Friday’s ruling.

The smuggling law had been used frequently in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s trademark immigration efforts, though the courts have curbed his immigration powers during the 17 last months.

It came under heavy criticism after more than 2,000 immigrants who paid to be sneaked into the country were charged with conspiring to smuggle themselves across the border. Critics said the law was intended for the smugglers, not their customers.

“I will wait to see what the outcome of this case will be,” Arpaio said in a statement about Friday’s ruling.

During the past 18 months, Arizona has seen a growing list of its immigration laws and policies that have been rejected by the courts.

A federal judge ruled that Arpaio’s office, which made immigration enforcement one of its top priorities, systematically racially profiled Latinos in its immigration and regular traffic patrols — a finding that the sheriff vigorously disputes.

This summer, a federal appeals court ruled the state cannot deny driver’s licenses to young immigrants who are allowed to stay in the U.S. under a 2012 Obama administration policy.

Three weeks ago, an appeals court struck down a 2006 voter-approved law that denies bail to immigrants who are in the country illegally and have been charged with a range of felonies that include shoplifting, aggravated identity theft, sexual assault and murder.

County officials are appealing that decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily put the ruling on hold until it decides whether to delay implementation of the decision on a more long-term basis.

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• illegal immigration
• immigration law
• Arizona

WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House lunch aiming for cooperation boiled into a fresh dispute with newly empowered Republicans over immigration reform Friday, with GOP leaders warning President Barack Obama to his face not to take unilateral action. The president stood unflinchingly by his plan to act.

Republicans attending the postelection lunch at Obama’s invitation said they asked him for more time to work on legislation, but the president said his patience was running out. He reiterated his intent to act on his own by the end of the year if they don’t approve legislation to ease deportations before then and send it to him to sign.

The Republicans’ approach, three days after they resoundingly won control of the Senate in midterm elections, “seemed to fall on deaf ears,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said in a telephone interview. “The president instead of being contrite or saying in effect to America, ‘I hear you,’ as a result of the referendum on his policies that drove this last election, he seems unmoved and even defiant.”

“I don’t know why he would want to sabotage his last two years as president by doing something this provocative,” said Cornyn.

The White House said that Obama laid out three areas where he and Congress could work together before the end of the year — emergency funding to combat the Ebola outbreak, approval of a federal budget and quick action on spending to fight the Islamic State militant group. And the White House said, “The president reiterated his commitment to taking action on immigration reform in light of the House’s inability to pass a comprehensive bill.”

The meeting was tense at times, according to a senior House Republican aide. The aide was not authorized to describe the back-and-forth publicly by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, about to lose his grip on the upper chamber, barely said a word. The aide said at one point as House Speaker John Boehner was making an argument on immigration, Obama responded that his patience was running out and Vice President Joe Biden interrupted to ask how long Republicans needed. Obama angrily cut Biden off, the aide said.

In public, Obama’s tone had been more upbeat as he opened the gathering. He pledged to work on ending long-running partisan gridlock and to be open to Republican ideas. The president said the lunch was a chance to “explore where we can make progress” after Americans showed in the midterm elections that they wanted to see more accomplished in Washington.

“They’d like to see more cooperation,” Obama said, sitting at the middle of 13 lawmakers in the Old Family Dining Room set with the Truman china. “And I think all of us have the responsibility, me in particular, to try to make that happen.”

Reporters were ushered out before any lawmaker spoke or lunch was served. Republican descriptions of the meeting were provided after it ended, with aides speaking only on condition of anonymity.

For the record, Boehner’s office said he suggested that the president should back a Republican jobs bill as a starting place for bipartisan action.

Obama said at the start he was interested in “hearing and sharing ideas” for compromise on measures to boost the economy, then mentioned his personal priorities of college affordability and investment in road and building projects. He also touted improved monthly job growth numbers out Friday as evidence his economic policies are working, saying, “We’re doing something right here.”

Briefings on Ebola and the Islamic State from Pentagon officials dominated much of the meeting, and the immigration debate was said to have lasted about half an hour. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Republicans told Obama that any executive order, particularly on immigration but any issue, would be a “toxic decision.”

“He still hasn’t come to grips with the reality of the election and the consequences of the election,” Barrasso said. “His tone and tenor didn’t seem to reflect that of somebody whose policies were just significantly rejected all across the country just three days ago.”

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

• Politics & Government
• Government
• Barack Obama
• Republicans
• immigration reform
• White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House lunch aiming for cooperation boiled into a fresh dispute with newly empowered Republicans over immigration reform Friday, with GOP leaders warning President Barack Obama to his face not to take unilateral action. The president stood unflinchingly by his plan to act.

Republicans attending the postelection lunch at Obama’s invitation said they asked him for more time to work on legislation, but the president said his patience was running out. He reiterated his intent to act on his own by the end of the year if they don’t approve legislation to ease deportations before then and send it to him to sign.

The Republicans’ approach, three days after they resoundingly won control of the Senate in midterm elections, “seemed to fall on deaf ears,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said in a telephone interview. “The president instead of being contrite or saying in effect to America, ‘I hear you,’ as a result of the referendum on his policies that drove this last election, he seems unmoved and even defiant.”

“I don’t know why he would want to sabotage his last two years as president by doing something this provocative,” said Cornyn.

The White House said that Obama laid out three areas where he and Congress could work together before the end of the year — emergency funding to combat the Ebola outbreak, approval of a federal budget and quick action on spending to fight the Islamic State militant group. And the White House said, “The president reiterated his commitment to taking action on immigration reform in light of the House’s inability to pass a comprehensive bill.”

The meeting was tense at times, according to a senior House Republican aide. The aide was not authorized to describe the back-and-forth publicly by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, about to lose his grip on the upper chamber, barely said a word. The aide said at one point as House Speaker John Boehner was making an argument on immigration, Obama responded that his patience was running out and Vice President Joe Biden interrupted to ask how long Republicans needed. Obama angrily cut Biden off, the aide said.

In public, Obama’s tone had been more upbeat as he opened the gathering. He pledged to work on ending long-running partisan gridlock and to be open to Republican ideas. The president said the lunch was a chance to “explore where we can make progress” after Americans showed in the midterm elections that they wanted to see more accomplished in Washington.

“They’d like to see more cooperation,” Obama said, sitting at the middle of 13 lawmakers in the Old Family Dining Room set with the Truman china. “And I think all of us have the responsibility, me in particular, to try to make that happen.”

Reporters were ushered out before any lawmaker spoke or lunch was served. Republican descriptions of the meeting were provided after it ended, with aides speaking only on condition of anonymity.

For the record, Boehner’s office said he suggested that the president should back a Republican jobs bill as a starting place for bipartisan action.

Obama said at the start he was interested in “hearing and sharing ideas” for compromise on measures to boost the economy, then mentioned his personal priorities of college affordability and investment in road and building projects. He also touted improved monthly job growth numbers out Friday as evidence his economic policies are working, saying, “We’re doing something right here.”

Briefings on Ebola and the Islamic State from Pentagon officials dominated much of the meeting, and the immigration debate was said to have lasted about half an hour. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Republicans told Obama that any executive order, particularly on immigration but any issue, would be a “toxic decision.”

“He still hasn’t come to grips with the reality of the election and the consequences of the election,” Barrasso said. “His tone and tenor didn’t seem to reflect that of somebody whose policies were just significantly rejected all across the country just three days ago.”

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

• Politics & Government
• Government
• Barack Obama
• Republicans
• immigration reform
• White House