(politico) A group of Arizona Republicans on Wednesday became the nation’s first Latino organization to back the state’s immigration law, setting the stage for a heated, and potentially emotional, showdown within the Hispanic community. The Arizona Latino Republican Association filed in federal court a motion to intervene with the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against SB 1070, which is being heard in a Phoenix courtroom. The department is arguing that only the federal government has the authority to enact immigration laws. Another lawsuit against Arizona is also getting its day in court Thursday. The second one argues that the law could lead to racial profiling by police, who will have the authority to question the citizenship of any person “reasonably suspected” of being in the country illegally. Jesse Hernandez, chairman of ALRA and the son of legal immigrants, sees this as a purely states’ rights issue and is prepared to take on the federal government over its “backward” priorities.

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