Immigration, Racial Profiling | featured news

When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the key provision of Arizona's immigration enforcement law last month, opponents of the measure were encouraged that the court left the door open for future lawsuits once the law goes into effect. But legal experts warn that lawsuits claiming racial profiling by police officers — one of the avenues that Justice Anthony Kennedy listed as a way to challenge the law — take a long time to develop and are difficult to win.

In oral arguments, both liberal and conservative justices indicate they may maintain a provision of the Arizona law that tells police to check the immigration status of people they stop.

A new Arizona law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants could divert resources from pursuing those in the country illegally who have committed more serious crimes, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Tuesday.