Quote:
Originally Posted by IllTestYourGirls
So lets get this right.....
You support the IRS checking your (someone who has not broken a law) health care papers EVERY MONTH
But do not support someone who commits a crime needing to prove they are a citizen
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It hinges on probable cause. The Arizona statute does not allow detention simply because someone looks like they are an illegal. They can only question the status if there is some kind of "reasonable" suspicion the individual is an illegal, but the law provides no hint at how police are to arrive at this conclusion.
Arizona does not have a law that says everyone must carry some kind of ID that would satisfy the inquiry of a person's residency. They have only this:
"It is unlawful for a person, after being advised that the person's refusal to answer is unlawful, to fail or refuse to state the person's true full name on request of a peace officer who has lawfully detained the person based on reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime." <rest snipped>
So technically, everyone in AZ must now carry some form of documentation that could be used to prove residency, in case they are stopped by police. Unless they want to be charged with racial profiling, which is against federal law, they have to ask everyone.
Forgetting the large native American population with brown skin (gee, are they here legally?), some of the oldest families on grant lands in AZ are of Hispanic descent. Their families may have lived there for 150 years, yet now they have to carry documentation that proves their legal residency.
In all, it's a stupid law that totally misses the point, muddies the real problem, and sets us back in time, money, and effort.
Meg Whitman, a smart lady likely the next governor of CA (and a Republican) says she thinks there are better ways of handling the problem. I'm quite sure she's right.