WHEREAS, On April 23, 2010, the Governor of Arizona signed into law Arizona Senate Bill 1070, that permits state and local law enforcement officials in Arizona to engage in racial profiling, thereby turning the clock back a generation of civil rights gains; and

WHEREAS, SB 1070 specifically turns unlawful presence, which is a civil administrative offense under federal immigration law, into a state crime, requires Arizona state and local law enforcement to question people who they “reasonably suspect” of being in the United States unlawfully, and grants Arizona police the power to arrest individuals without a warrant if they believe the individuals are in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, thereby giving Arizona police an arrest authority normally limited to criminal violations; and

WHEREAS, On April 30, 2010, the Governor of Arizona signed into law Arizona House Bill 2162, modifying SB 1070 (collectively, the Arizona law) to prohibit racial profiling but still criminalizing unlawful presence, thus requiring Arizona state and local law enforcement to engage in immigration enforcement, question individuals they “reasonably suspect” of being in the United States unlawfully in the course of any “lawful stop, detention or arrest,” and arrest individuals without a warrant for federal immigration violation; and

WHEREAS, The Arizona law undermines fundamental civil rights and civil liberties, and poses a special threat to people of color who live in and travel through Arizona; and

WHEREAS, Although the Arizona law states that it prohibits racial profiling, public officials assert that undocumented immigrants can be identified by the clothes they wear and the way they speak, and are therefore using stereotypes as proxies for race that will inevitably lead to racial profiling; and

WHEREAS, The State of California prohibits the unequal treatment of its residents and prohibits racial profiling of any kind; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Census Bureau, an estimated 68 percent of California residents are people of color and 37 percent are of Hispanic or Latino origin who potentially could be targeted and harassed by law enforcement officials in Arizona as “reasonably suspect,” if they fall into a stereotype held by law enforcement officers; and

WHEREAS, The Major Cities Chiefs Association stated in 2006 that when police engage in immigration enforcement, immigrant community members are less apt to call them when they witness or suffer a crime, thereby undermining the ability of police to protect the entire community and threatening public safety; and

WHEREAS, To the extent the Arizona law threatens public safety in Arizona, it also threatens public safety in California, as a neighboring state, and could potentially undermine trust between California communities and the police that serve them; and

WHEREAS, Civil rights leaders, constitutional rights scholars, elected officials, and police chiefs across the country condemn the Arizona law; and

WHEREAS, The City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, City of Oakland, and City and County of San Francisco have all passed resolutions condemning the Arizona law; and

WHEREAS, We need humane and workable solutions, not an irrational and irresponsible response, to our broken immigration system, and we need solutions that help our state and country move forward together, rather than divide us apart; and

WHEREAS, The California Latino Legislative Caucus condemns the Arizona law and its impact on civil rights; and

WHEREAS, The California Latino Legislative Caucus cautions California residents from traveling to, or spending time in, Arizona due to the risk they may face in being subjected to inappropriate and unlawful scrutiny; now, therefore, be it