FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 15, 2010 

SIOUX FALLS-SD In the wake of the announcement by South Dakota’s Attorney General Marty Jackley and Gov. Mike Rounds pledging support to Arizona in upholding its racial profiling law SB 1070, the ACLU of South Dakota has issued a travel warning for all South Dakotans who are planning on traveling to Arizona. According to Robert Doody, Executive Director for the ACLU of South Dakota National Chapter, "The recent support given by the South Dakota Attorney General to such a blatantly discriminatory law like SB 1070 in Arizona is of great concern." The unconstitutional law is being challenged by the ACLU and the United States Department of Justice. "South Dakotans should know that they could be racially profiled in Arizona. This should be of special concern to Latino and American Indians since we believe the law is specifically targeting people of Latino descent or who could look Latino. The easiest indicator of ethnicity for police is skin color," said Doody.

Although the law is not scheduled to go into effect until July 29, the ACLU of South Dakota National Chapter is concerned that some law enforcement officers are already beginning to act on provisions of the law especially now that they are receiving support from states like South Dakota. Moreover, there has been a history of rampant racial profiling by law enforcement in Arizona, especially in Maricopa County. Additionally, Arizona lawmakers have a stated anti-immigrant policy of "attrition through enforcement" meant to create a sufficiently hostile environment for Latinos and other people of color that they voluntarily leave the state.

The unconstitutional law, known as SB 1070, requires law enforcement agents to demand "papers" from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the United States. If individuals are unable to prove to officers that they are permitted to be in the U.S., they may be subject to a warrantless arrest without any probable cause that they have committed a crime.

"Our goal is to protect South Dakotan residents from illegal harassment from law enforcement and to make sure that they know their rights should they encounter it," said Robert Doody. According to Doody, "With the large number of American Indians and the growing population of Latinos in South Dakota, we are concerned that the rights of South Dakotans will be violated when they travel to Arizona. Unfortunately, the South Dakota Attorney General’s office has decided to support a blatantly discriminatory law that targets people because of their skin color."