Police can still ask people for documents to prove citizenship under the 2011 law but not being able to detain them while checking records "defangs" enforcement, said Karen Tumlin, managing attorney at the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center, one of the plaintiffs.
"It's unconstitutional and bad policy, and the state realized it's more of a headache than its worth," Tumlin said.
South Carolina's law was modeled after one in Arizona. Similar laws have been passed in Alabama, Georgia and Utah, though they are not enforced fully in some states after court rulings, Tumlin said.
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson's office disagreed with rulings that have overruled some parts of the immigration laws, according to a court filing Monday, but chose to stop fighting the case.
A number of immigration rights groups and the federal government sued South Carolina to stop the law. A temporary injunction was ordered.
