Yesterday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, and the National Immigration Law Center held a joint press conference in front of the Arizona State Capitol to announce their intent to challenge a new bill that allows police the freedom to question and detain brown people on the "reasonable suspicion" that they're undocumented immigrants.

Civil rights leaders say the bill is unconstitutional because is interferes with federal immigration power and authority and unlawfully encourages racial profiling against Latinos and other people of color.

From the ACLU of AZ:

"This law will only make the rampant racial profiling of Latinos that is already going on in Arizona much worse," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "If this law were implemented, citizens would effectively have to carry 'their papers' at all times to avoid arrest. It is a low point in modern America when a state law requires police to demand documents from people on the street."

The lawsuit, more than boycotts or protests, needs to happen now. Conservative politicians, most notably in Oklahoma, are already looking to follow Arizona's lead. They plan on taking Arizona's bill one step further by imposing harsher penalties on illegal immigrants and giving officers the authority to seize assets. They need to see this bill taken down hard before drafting unconstitutional legislation of their own.

Confidential to Oklahoma: What the fuck is wrong with you?*

Confidential to everyone else: If Oklahoma has any redeeming qualities, I would like to hear them.

*My theory: The state is dominated by chinless white men whose sole job is to scare children and think up new ways to ruin people's lives.