i don't think there is actually any consensus over what power exactly this new law gives to police officers because the wording of the law is sort of ambiguous..it's something like "if while making lawful contact, a law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion to believe a person is not a lawful citizen he may request proof of citizenship" and of course you are subject to arrest if you can't provide the documentation. what's confusing there is the term "lawful contact" because the wording seems to imply that a police officer, while stopping a person for some unrelated reason, has reasonable suspicion to believe that person is an unlawful citizen he can request proof of citizenship. that's kind of what it reads like anyway, but the term lawful contact is just confusing. and it would be easy to see how, even if that is the intended use of the law, it could be abused to racially profile latinos.
and crash_override is just crazy. if you want to cut down on illegal immigration, crack down on huge, american multinational corporations that employ (and actively pursue) illegal mexican workers, who will work for low wages and in poor conditions, so those companies can continue to cheaply provide you the things which make your life convenient. these companies get a pass and instead the police arrest, jail and deport individual workers who are being exploited, and the companies turn around and hire another batch. not to mention the fact that going around and forcing people to produce papers or risk arrest is unconstitutional and gestapo-like. you can't justify possibly violating a lawful citizen's constitutional rights in the name of deporting illegals. there are just too many reasons why your mind is warped on this issue...
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