Arizona implements immigration law as feds push back | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Arizona began implementing the piece of its anti-illegal immigration law that survived the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday, requiring police officers to verify immigration status during routine stops if they have a "reasonable" suspicion that someone may be in the country illegally.

Arizona tells police officers to look for specific signs that indicate they should ask for immigration papers when stopping a person. These signals include lack of a license, driving a car with foreign plates, difficulty speaking English and seeming nervous. Officers must be careful not to stop someone for more than a "reasonable" amount of time while verifying his or her status, however, or the inquiry could violate the stopped person's rights. Gov. Jan Brewer says officers have been trained not to racially profile while implementing the new law.

Let's face it - what is really going to happen is that officers will question anyone who appears to be Hispanic. To paraphrase Justice Stewart, "I can't define a Mexican, but I know one when I see one."

"Seeming nervous" - that's a catch all that attempts to give the coppers probable cause every time.