Mr. Sotelo, who said he would be following Arizona’s appeal of that ruling on Monday, realizes that his views are not popular among immigrants. He was hesitant to reply when a woman in the country illegally asked him recently what he thought of the law.

“I said, ‘I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say,’ ” he recalled.

He thinks his adopted state has been unfairly maligned since the law passed. “I’m a Hispanic, and I don’t have any issues walking the streets,” he said. “They make it seem like the police or sheriff are out there checking everyone’s papers, and that’s not so.”

But his wife, who was thrilled by President Obama’s challenge to the law, has a different view of her adopted state. “It’s more of a racist state after 1070,” she said. “We are a magnet for neo-Nazis.”