Arizona’s immigration enforcement law (S.B. 1070) has drawn not only the July 6 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice but also numerous other legal challenges.

A class-action suit that challenges the constitutionality of 1070 was filed on May 17 by several organizations — including the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, the ACLU of Arizona, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the NAACP.

According to the American Immigration Council, “The complaint alleges that S.B. 1070 unlawfully attempts to regulate immigration and punish those whom Arizona deems to be in violation of immigration laws.”

The plaintiffs in three lawsuits filed on April 29 include police officers, religious organizations, and social service groups.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders also filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona, as did Marin Escobar, a naturalized U.S. citizen employed as a police officer with the Tucson Police Department.

The AIC notes that in the Escobar case, “On June 11 the Arizona cities of Flagstaff, San Luis, Somerton, and Tolleson moved to join the lawsuit as plaintiff intervenors.”

David Salgado, a patrol officer for the Phoenix Police Department, and Chicanos Por La Causa, a community development corporation and civil rights group in Arizona also filed a lawsuit on April 29.

The amended complaints of the CONLAMIC, Escobar, and Salgado lawsuits allege that federal law preempts S.B. 1070, thus violating the Supremacy Clause. It also violates due process; the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments; as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The defendants in these cases, which include Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, have filed motions to dismiss, but the cases are still moving through the courts.