Do I look illegal to you?

I don't have a lot of time to post today, but I've been meaning to write a little about the new immigration law in Arizona.  I taught adult immigrants from Mexico for one and a half years after college.  I've met dozens of "illegal aliens."  Many of them have met my family and some have been to my house.  And I can tell you that they don't look any different from my students who were legal.  Sure, all of them have different physical appearances, but there was nothing that distinguished my undocumented students from my documented students at first blush.  Or even second blush.  Even the governor admitted she did not know what an illegal immigrant looks like, but she said if the police "work on this" and "get a description" then the law will be enforced fairly and without discrimination.  Right.

I have heard people say their shoes could distinguish them.  Or their clothes.  Or their jobs.  This is not only ludricris, it's insulting.  Shoes or clothes?  If that is all that's taken into account, then every person, regardless of race, would be profiled based on their personal style or perhaps economic status.

But we all know that the illegal immigrants targeted by this bill are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico.  So how can there possibly be no element of racial profiling, which is supposedly outlawed by the bill itself? 

The bill says that once legal contact is made (which, may I point out, could occur pretty much for any reason: a broken tail light or an incidental swerve over the line could result in being pulled over), then the officer may ask for papers if the subject is acting "reasonbly suspicious." 

Ok.

What is reasonably suspicious?  Is it sweating, shifty eyes, perhaps weeping?  Is it a certain walk?  Is it speaking Spanish?  Is it a full car?  Or is it the lack of something?  The lack of an expensive car or designer clothes?  The lack of knowledge about the rules of the road?  The lack of white features?  Honestly, what are they looking for.  We need to find their training manual, because I want to know what tells them who is illegal and who isn't without racial profiling.  If the police think that all illegal immigrants drive bad cars, wear dirty clothes, speak only Spanish, and can't control their fear in the presence of police, well, then they are ignorant.  News flash: there are illegal immigrants who do not, and there are legal ones who do. 

It's inevitable that legal immigrants and citizens will be asked for papers.  If I were a Hispanic citizen living in Arizona, I would need to carry proof of citizenship around, wouldn't I?  Or would there be something about me that would distinguish me from an "illegal?"  How is this not racial profiling?!  I suppose a Canadian living or vacationing in Arizona would also have to show documentation.  For those who support the bill, this hypothetical, along with explicit language in the bill outlawing racial profiling, seems to be proof that it will not happen. 

But we all know, or at least my fellow law students do, that a bill does not have to be discriminatory on its face.  Hello, disparate effect!

Then there are those who see no problem with racial profiling.  Notice, they are all white.  They've never been the subject of racial profiling, and don't understand why "slight inconvenience to a few people" is such a big deal.  I'm not going to let that ruffle my feathers, because it's beyond the point.

The point is that the law is unconstitutional.  It will inevitably lead to judging somone based on their race or other physical attributes.  The government is simply not authorized to do that.  It is against the values of most Americans and against American law.  Let's hope the Supreme Court does the right thing and strikes this down. 

I'm posting a video from MediaMatters.org.  If you don't know who they are yet, you should.