Civil rights activists and even the president disagree with the new Arizona immigration law, passed April 23, because it paves the way for racial profiling. One exception, Maryland state legislator Pat McDonough, is in favor of the new legislation and wishes to pass a similar bill in Maryland.

The law states that police must question and can detain any individuals who they reasonably suspect are illegal immigrants. It also criminalizes the failure to carry legal immigration documents.

McDonough supports this law and is drafting a similar law for next year to mimic the Arizona legislation. But, his colleagues, both on the state and national level, disagree stating that immigration law is a federal issue.

Critics, on the other hand, correctly contend that the “reasonable suspicion” clause supports racial profiling and discrimination. As a result, legislators across the nation should eliminate Arizona’s law and all laws similar to it.

The ACLU, a major opponent of this law, argues that it threatens the civil rights and liberties of Arizona citizens. The ACLU claims the law promotes racial profiling and asks, on what factors, other than race, would cause police to suspect someone of immigrating illegally. Police may be more likely to question a Latino than a suspicious Caucasian because 76 percent of the undocumented residents in the U.S. are Hispanic, according to Pew Hispanic Center. Other than seeing papers, there doesn’t seem to be an unbiased way to determine if someone is legally in the country.

To combat this, the law states that police can’t “solely consider race, color, or national origin” when implementing the law “except to the extent permitted by the Constitution.” But police can’t be expected to follow such a vague and ambiguous guideline.

Though supporters of the law argue that immigrants damage the economy by taking jobs and lowering wages, they actually increase the average wealth of America. In fact, illegal immigrants have increased the United State’ average wealth by about 1 percent according to economist George Borjas. Therefore, the law will decrease the wealth of America.

Arizona’s new law is ineffective, unfair to Latinos and promotes racial profiling. State Legislators should abolish the law and prevent similar bills, like Pat McDonough’s, in Maryland.