The Congressional Research Service recently issued aa legal analysis of the Arizona state law authorizing enforcement of criminal laws regarding unauthorized immigrants (SB 1070, as amended by HB 2162). The analysis is focused on the Federal preemption question but also addresses the civil rights aspects of racial profiling.
This thoughtful analysis notes that “the most serious preemption arguments likely exist where state law attempts to reach past traditional police powers to regulate matters closely related to the entry and removal of aliens from the United States, and the conditions of their lawful presence within the country. State laws addressing such matters appear most susceptible to preemption challenges, as federal law is arguably intended to wholly occupy this field.”
The analysis concludes that it is difficult in the absence of information about how the Arizona law is implemented to determine whether it is unconstitutional based on Federal preemption.