DOJ wants 1 judge to hear immigration challenges

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking that its lawsuit challenging Arizona’s immigration enforcement law be heard by the same federal judge in Phoenix already considering five challenges.

The challenges were previously filed by private groups and individuals and supported by several Arizona local governments.

The department followed the filing of its lawsuit Tuesday by asking that the case be transferred to District Judge Susan Bolton on grounds that all the cases involve similar issues. The government’s case had been routinely assigned to another judge.

An American Civil Liberties lawyer — Lucas Guttentag — says he expects all the requests for a preliminary injunction to block the law’s July 29 implementation will be heard “in some coordinated fashion.”