A seventh challenge filed to block enforcement of Arizona's tough new immigration is the first legal objection to training materials designed to teach police officers how to enforce the law.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, says the training materials are "so vague and ill-defined that they will certainly lead to widespread racial profiling and discrimination."
Among the materials is a video released July 1 that warns officers not to use race or ethnicity when enforcing the new law, but tells them they're allowed to consider whether a person speaks poor English, looks nervous or is traveling in an overcrowded vehicle.
They can even take into account whether someone is wearing several layers of clothing in a hot climate, or hanging out in an area where illegal immigrants are known to look for work.
Those who filed the lawsuit objecting to the training materials, including the League of United Latin American Citizens, argue that immigrants who are already known to federal authorities and who have petitions to legalize their status will be subject to arrest because they don't have the specific documents the new law requires.
The law, set to go into effect July 29 pending the legal challenges, requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally.
The U.S. Justice Department also has filed a lawsuit, saying the Arizona law usurps the federal government's "pre-eminent authority" under the Constitution to regulate immigration.
Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and other supporters say the law will prompt illegal immigrants to leave the state and that state action was required by a failure of the federal government to secure the border.
Opponents say the law will promote racial profiling.
