Arizona's new immigration law is a fundamental violation of the principles of the Civil Rights Act of 1994, and existing federal non-discrimination legislation. The law enables police to randomly stop and demand proof of citizenship from people who the authorities think are illegal aliens. This law will obviously have a disproportionate impact upon individuals of non-white heritage, particularly Hispanics. The law "would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status" (Archibald 2010).

One of the fundamental rights of all citizens, as codified in the Bill of Rights, is the right not to be illegally searched. While some exceptions have been made for warrantless searches by the U.S. Supreme Court, such as general traffic stops to...
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