As Arizona and the rest of the nation prepare for the state’s controversial anti-immigration SB 1070 bill to go into effect, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has suggested that the federal government may file yet another suit against the beleaguered state “if the U.S. believes racial profiling is taking place.”

The existing suit, filed by the federal government on constitutional grounds, may delay the legislation’s implementation, originally set for July 29. A second suit would focus on the issue of racial profiling if the state manages to implement the law in the face of the federal challenge. –JCL

Los Angeles Times:

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, said Sunday he might sue Arizona a second time if he finds its tough-on-illegal-immigrants law leads to racial profiling.

Holder, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said the federal government’s lawsuit against Arizona, filed last week, makes scant mention of racial profiling because a stronger argument against the law is that it preempts the federal government’s responsibility in deciding immigration policies.

The law requires law enforcement officers with a suspicion that a person is not a legal resident to ask questions and take the person into custody if the person cannot prove he or she is a legal resident.

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