Arizona enacts SB 1070 expanding immigration policing

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signs SB 1070 on April 23, 2010. The law requires police, during lawful stops, to check immigration status when they have reasonable suspicion that a person is unlawfully present. Supporters describe the law as necessary immigration enforcement. Civil rights groups and the federal government argue it invites racial profiling of Latino residents and interferes with federal immigration authority. State immigration policing becomes a major civil rights fight over Latino communities, racial profiling, and federalism.