ACLU Launches App For Reporting Racial Profiling Under Arizona Immigration Law

The controversial Arizona immigration law SB 1070 is causing opponents of the bill to create new outlets of protection regarding concerns of racial profiling the proposal could allow. That's why the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona has created a new app that allowed residents to report abuses under the law. The mobile app also gives users information about their legal rights should they be stopped by police.

While the bill has been watered down since it was first proposed, section 2B still allows police to check the immigration status of anyone detained, stopped or arrested if police think there is reason to believe the person may be an undocumented immigrant. The original bill barred the undocumented from working in the state, allowed for arrests without warrants and made it illegal for immigrants to not carry their papers at all times. The Supreme Court struck down all three provisions in June of last year.

The ACLU app is bilingual and grants user access to forms in either English or Spanish with which to report abuse under state law. In addition to legal information, it will include video of those victim to racial profiling and an interactive map showing users where such instances occurred. The ACLU told the Huffington Post that the app was created in response to the Supreme Court's decision.

"They struck down as unconstitutional three of the four provisions of the law, and basically when it comes to section 2B the court said 'look you have to bring us more examples, more evidence of abuses under this provision of the law'," Alessandra Soler, Executive Director of Arizona's ACLU division, said. "That is for us the motivating factor, to document the abuses that we know are going on and then collect enough of them so that we can go back to court and also get that provision struck down."

The app will ask users for information such as badge number and the name of the agency responsible. Soler said that the app will give users the tools they need at the ready to report abuse in a timely fashion without undergoing a lengthy and possibly intimidating process. In June 2012, Arizona Sherrif Joe Arpaio was under fire for alleged racial profiling, an allegation he and his office denied.

"When we go to court, they are going to have to come up with all the evidence where they are accusing me and my dedicated deputies of racial profiling," Arpaio said in an interview with Univision journalist Jorge Ramos. "It's always easy to throw the race card in there and that's what they're doing in Washington today, that they're concerned about racial profiling."

The Justice Department ruled early this year that Arpaio and his office did in fact engage in racial profiling. Arpaio, who was nearly recalled until the petition vying to do so failed to receive enough signatures by deadline, has since vowed to appeal. The ACLU wants the Justice Department to do more than appoint a monitor -- a possible solution proposed in response to the ruling -- to promote accountability of Arizona's law enforcement as the organization believes the bill inherently risks racial profiling.

"We believe that it is impossible to enforce SB 1070 without engaging in racial profiling," Soler said.

The app may be downloaded on any compatible device and is part of the group's ongoing "United Against 1070" campaign.