For those who aren’t aware, the state of Arizona just passed a draconian, racist anti-illegal immigration law last Friday. Here is some information on the law, along with the actual law itself.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
under this law, if someone is undocumented and/or here illegally:
– they can be stopped under reasonable suspicion (less grounds for evidence than probable cause); this includes any person a law enforcement officer has “reasonable suspicion” to believe they are here illegally (reasonable suspicion can mean virtually anything a police officer thinks is “suspicious”, including having the wrong skin color or being the wrong ethnicity). They must provide proof of being an American citizen or having a visa/green card.
– all fines must be paid by the defendant and most sentences can not be commuted.
– in addition to federal law against illegal immigration, the state of Arizona issues a separate trespassing charge for being on public or private property in the state of Arizona (class 1 misdemeanor)
– if a person gets into a car with the intent to work, or solicits work, or performs work, they are charged with a separate class 1 misdemeanor
– any person who shelters or transports an illegal immigrant will be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor
– if they shelter more than 10 illegal immigrants, they are charged with a class 6 felony
– if a person has been found to be in Arizona illegally in the past 5 years, they have a class 4 felony
– if a person has any drugs, precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine as defined by the authorities, a “dangerous weapon” or instrument as defined by the authorities, or any property that could be used for terrorism (given the loose definition of terrorism defined by prosecutors in light of the PATRIOT ACT, could mean something as low-key as literature), they are charged with a class 3 felony