A Study of Racial Profiling in Arizona

Siddhanth Warrier
Professor Barrie Stevens
Writing 101- 10
November 19, 2012

Land of the Free, Home of the White; A Study of Racial Profiling in Arizona Racial profiling is essentially the act of using skin color as a probable cause to detain someone. This phenomenon is unfortunately very common, and is frequently used by law enforcement agencies around the United States as a means to deal with illegal activity. It is morally reprehensible in that it promotes racist practice amongst law enforcement officers, and it is inefficient as a method of law enforcement because it discourages investigation. Despite these aspects of racial profiling there are places in the United States where it is favored. In April of 2010, a new legislative act was signed in the state of Arizona for the purpose of cracking down on illegal immigration. This law is an example of racial profiling at its worst, while at the same time having a negative impact on the overall efficiency of law enforcement in Arizona.
The bill, entitled Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act consists of provisions the purpose of which is to curtail and punish illegal immigration and anyone involved in. There is a provision in the law that advocates racial profiling. One of the stipulations of the law states “A law enforcement officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States” (Arizona State Senate). This stipulation is what gives the law its power to enforce the other stipulation it puts forward. It is because of this provision that law enforcement officers are able to detain people they suspect of being guilty of the offences laid out in this law. However, this provision also sanctions racial profiling.
Given that the stipulation that gives the law this power is dependent on racial profiling, the entire law relies on racial profiling to function. In the aforementioned stipulation, the reason a law enforcer is given the right to detain someone is “probable cause” to suspect them of being illegal immigrants. It says nothing concerning what that probable cause entails, or should entail. During a patrol, there is no reason for the officer to suspect anyone of being an illegal immigrant other than the using ethnic identifiers as the profile. This is a clear breach of basic human rights and has been challenged on that basis by a coalition of organizations. A class action lawsuit was filed stating that the law “violates the Supremacy Clause, the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, the Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures” (Morse). The law indeed, denies citizen of their to be presumed innocent at all times and additionally violates the federal law of this land. It allows law enforcement officers to unlawfully target a specific group of people who hold the exact same rights as every other citizen. Furthermore, the law creates a psychological bias in the minds of the police officers, and it forms a second-class citizenship for Latino Americans. This is very offensive to the Latino Americans born in Arizona, whose forefathers lived in those very lands long before the Manifest of Destiny. In other words by a CNN editor, “These are the people who, in many cases it is often said, didn 't cross the border as much as the border crossed them” (Navarrette). This is once again infringement of the civil rights held by these American citizens. Also, this internally forces the officer to stop people for very minor violations just based on their skin color. The unnecessary detainment of completely legal Latino American is not only a violation of federal law, but also come with an expensive price tag. Based on a blog run by the Immigration Policy Center, the cost of implementing this law surpasses the budget allocated to enforcement agencies in the last federal stimulus package given to Arizona. The organization’s study shows that one county alone will cost around twenty million dollars, which is double the federal budget (Hoy). The law will automatically increase spending, which will be very hurtful to Arizona’s already in debt economy. These costs can clearly not be afforded by the State’s government and would unfortunately add more to the ever-growing national dept. It is important for a State such a Arizona, which is home to a large population of American born Latinos, to abolish the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. This act has a negative political, social and economical impact on the State of Arizona as well the Nation as a whole. The law comes with a great added racial profiling, that is extremely unethical as well as unconstitutional. This law defeats its purpose as it greatly harms the Latino American community through unconstitutional practice. Citizens must understand the gravity of the issue and take all measures to prevent passing of acts such as these. Word Count: 826

Works Cited
Hoy, Seth. "Can Arizona Afford to Implement S.B. 1070?" Immigration Impact. Immigration Policy Center, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
This is a blog by the Immigration Policy Center that addresses the economical effects of the Arizona law, by considering a variety of factors. It is a very credible source as it is from an un-bias government agency. The information in this source is very reliable as it is very pertinent to the issue discussed in this essay. The source delivers facts and figures that greatly in aid in efficiently supporting arguments made. Morse, Ann. "Arizona 's Immigration Enforcement Laws." Analysis of Arizona 's Immigration Law. National Conference of State Legislatures, 28 July 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.
This is another source from an un-bias government agency that gives a broad and brief explanation of the Arizona law in its entirety. The website discusses all aspects of the law ranging from all-important provisions of the law to a summary of all the lawsuits filed against the law. This source provides me with a great wealth of information that allowed me to understand the law better and explain it accurately in the essay.

Navarrette, Ruben. "How Arizona Law Hurts Hispanic Citizens." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 June 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. SB 1070. 23 April
2010. Laws Of Arizona, 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

Cited: Hoy, Seth. "Can Arizona Afford to Implement S.B. 1070?" Immigration Impact. Immigration Policy Center, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. This is a blog by the Immigration Policy Center that addresses the economical effects Navarrette, Ruben. "How Arizona Law Hurts Hispanic Citizens." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 June 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act 2010. Laws Of Arizona, 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.