Could Arizona Really break away from the United States?

Recent clash between federal government of United States and the state of Arizona over its anti-illegal immigration law has raised a controversy which could result in break away of Arizona from federal government.

Throughout the course of the debate over Arizona's controversial law, SB 1070, signed into law in April 2010 which gave police to screen for undocumented immigrants, the secession issue has been raised by voices on both sides of the political spectrum. 

 

Suggestions included not only separating Arizona from the United States, but also dividing Arizona into two different states, an idea that has some support based on an online poll released last year.

Question arises that, can a state unilaterally secede from the United States? 

Answer may be sought from history. Prior to the Civil War, there was an open debate about the nature of the union among the states. As Slate's Sam Schechner noted in 2004, the debate in 1830 between Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne hit at the heart of the issue: Were the states parts of a whole? Or independent entities bound by treaty? 

The Civil War settled the issue, particularly with the passage of the 14th Amendment, as Schechner notes, which defined for the first time citizenship on federal grounds instead of belonging to the states. 

Supporters of anti-immigration bill argue with opponents

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has even addressed the constitutionality of secession and how a state would go about it in a letter to a screenwriter who posed the question: Although the States may not be able to legally secede from the Union. 

But that doesn't mean they don't have the ability to affect the total number of states in the Union. As TIME magazine reported when the state secession issue reemerged in national media coverage in 2009, Texas, for example, has the right to split into five different states. Other states have seen their fair share of partition proposals over the years, but none have really gained steam.

A partition wouldn't have the same implications as a secession. The state would still remain the sovereign territory of the United States, instead of being a nation in its own right. A partition is also legal, and has a precedent.