Racial Profiling and Enforcing the Law

There's been angry and passionate voices on both sides of Arizona's new immigration law which, among other things, will require police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, require immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and require police to question people if there is reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. Proponents have argued that this legislation is necessary given the federal governments failure to enact or enforce existing federal laws around immigration. Opponents argue that the new Arizona laws lead to a culture of racial profiling and a fascist state akin to Nazi Germany.

Who's right? I can appreciate the importance of law and order, but I also appreciate the right to not be harassed or accosted based on the color of your skin. I have a good friend who is Egyptian, and I've asked him if he's ever felt profiled or looked at suspiciously due to appearance. He wasn't sure, but he's told me that he's never been treated with anything but respect at a checkpoint, and he's approached these situations by simply being himself - friendly. So when the MTA police check bags in subway stations and ask him to approach, he cheerfully offers his bag, and before soon, he's on his way. He's opted to take the high road, but I can understand why others may not.

It's a complex issue. Does the right of an individual to "not be checked" (some would way "accused" or "harassed" outweigh the benefits of the public safety and welfare of many? I find it ironic that France, which seems awfully proud of itself of being so progressive, is introducing laws to ban Islamic clothing in the name of public safety. So you're going to curtail freedom of religion and expression so you can (1) ensure that people aren't hiding munitions and (2) to impose secularity around how people dress? Does that make any sense?

Is it the right of a citizen to not be selectively screened? I'm not a lawyer, but while I have a great deal of respect for the law and I think that there's a severe immigration problem, I'm just not sure how this law can be applied practically without the net effect of having local law enforcement profile using benign characteristics such as race or language, or else it becomes meaningless - so the result of this would end up being a form of "racial profiling". What other overt signals might give local law enforcement "reason to suspect" illegal immigration? Misspelled or grammatically nonsensical phrases on clothing so popular with Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants?

What I do know is that the thought of Dora the Explorer roughed up and arrested is troubling. Then again, I'm pretty sure she has her H-1B.