Ariz. police get warnings, rules on immigration law

PHOENIX - Arizona police officials are warning officers not to use race or ethnicity when enforcing the state's new immigration law, saying the country is watching.

In a new training video released Thursday, the officials said opponents of the law may secretly videotape officers making traffic stops, trying to ensnare them to prove that they are racially profiling Hispanics.

"Without a doubt, we're going to be accused of racial profiling no matter what we do on this," Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor tells officers on the video from Arizona's police licensing board.

The video is designed to teach officers how to determine when they can ask a person for proof they are in the country legally.

Officers can consider that someone doesn't speak English well, is wearing several layers in a hot climate, or is hanging out in an area where illegal immigrants are known to look for work, the video says. But the stakes for making a mistake are high: Officers can be fired if they start asking questions because of a person's race, then lie about it, the video warns.

"It is also clear that the actions of Arizona officers will never come under this level of scrutiny again," said Lyle Mann, executive director of the training agency. "Each and every one of you will now carry the reputation for the entire Arizona law enforcement community with you every day."

Arizona's law, sparked by anger over a surging population of illegal immigrants in the state, generally requires officers enforcing another law to question a person's immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. It restricts the use of race, color, or national origin as the basis for triggering immigration queries.

Civil rights groups and some police officials argue that officers will still assume that illegal immigrants look Hispanic.

In the video, an expert advises officers to ask themselves whether they would reach the same conclusion about someone's immigration status if the subject were white or black.

The video and supporting paperwork will be sent to all 170 Arizona police agencies. Police chiefs will decide the best way to teach their forces. There is no requirement that all 15,000 Arizona police officers complete the training before the law takes effect July 29.