Nearly a week ago, the governor of Arizona signed into law a controversial new bill that severely tightens immigration policies in an effort to make it easier for undocumented residents in Arizona to be identified and arrested. The Editorial Board believes that this bill is dangerous not only because it places far too much power in the hands of local police officials in Arizona, but also because it contains no clear guidelines for identifying those without legal documentation.

The Arizona bill–known as S.B. 1070–requires police in Arizona to question anyone they suspect of being undocumented, and allows them to detain suspected undocumented individuals who are unable to provide proof of legal residence. The bill states that those questioned by police must make a “reasonable attempt” to verify their immigration status when the questioning officer feels that there is “reasonable suspicion” to warrant asking them for the information. The vagueness of the bill’s language is problematic, and will probably lead to many disputes and law suits later on.

With regards to immigration in America, some believe that current federal legislation and law enforcement does not do enough to maintain our borders. But despite the failings of current immigration policies, SB 1070 takes things too far by giving Arizona state police officers the right to make evaluations concerning someone’s legal status in the nation, even to the point of keeping them in detention or having them deported. Immigration law pertains not only to undocumented immigrants but also to how American citizens are treated. Because of the implications that our immigration policies have on U.S. citizens as a whole–whether Arizonans, Californians or otherwise–it makes sense that the federal government would have the final say regarding immigration policy and enforcement.

It is unclear what will constitute “reasonable suspicion” for questioning a state resident under the Arizona law, though ethnicity is forbidden to be the sole basis for questioning. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, however, has been unable to define how police will go about identifying undocumented immigrants by sight. Yet this has not stopped her from ordering training for state police regarding the standards by which evaluations are to be made in these incidents. No Arizona state official has publicly released these standards.

To ignore the implications of ethnicity in the framing of the bill is laughable. Ignoring ethnicity while conjuring a notion of who may be under “reasonable suspicion” is an interesting thought exercise for those who believe “being undocumented is not a race, it is a crime.” Rather than protecting citizens through the bill’s stated strategy of attrition through enforcement, some American citizens will find it much more difficult to live without increased fear and humiliation.

There is a strong likelihood that the Arizona bill will eventually be ruled unconstitutional, and the Editorial Board believes this is rightfully so. Current law does not grant state police the sweeping authority to enforce immigration policy–federal agents are tasked with this job. State police are not trained to serve as immigration officials, and therefore cannot be empowered to act like them in any state in the U.S. Furthermore, questioning all potential undocumented residents with no clear standards regarding what may arouse “reasonable suspicion” will lead to flagrant abuse of state-sanctioned power. The possibility that the state of Arizona could have fewer undocumented residents as a result of the bill does not begin to outweigh the legal and ethical implications of enforcing it.