Local breakdown of ruling on Arizona immigration law

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down several parts of Arizona's immigration law, but kept the section many people consider the most controversial.

The court left intact the part of the law often called "Show me your papers".

That's the part many Latinos believe leads to racial profiling.

Victor Lopez works at El Centro, a social service agency that helps many immigrant families.

But it's his own story that makes him disagree with Arizona's law.

"It was disappointing to me, upsetting. It was a mixture of emotions. Frustration," said Lopez.

Lopez is Kansas born, has two master's degrees and served eight years in the Navy - including a tour of duty in Iraq.

And he believes he was racially profiled during a traffic stop in a Johnson County suburb.

"I didn't run a red light, they didn't say any of that. They just said, 'we look for suspicious activity'. And I guess I fit the profile of suspicious activity," he said. "I don't know why."

Opponents of Arizona's law say it's that kind of profiling police would use to stop people to check their immigration status.

"It's a shame, the question about show me your papers, we wish, obviously that they would have said, just no, you can't do that, because it's going to lead to racial profiling. There's no way that that can't lead to racial profiling," said Gary Brunk, executive director of the ACLU chapter for Kansas and western Missouri.

He said the ACLU will continue to challenge similar state laws.

However, he also said he doesn't believe Kansas and Missouri will implement any Arizona-style laws because recent efforts have failed.

"Neither side got what they were looking for," said Overland Park state representative Greg Smith.

Smith has worked with other lawmakers and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to try to make Kansas immigration laws more like Arizona's.

In the past two years those bills have not passed.

"My concern comes with the fact that if the federal government fails to perform that duty, are we saying the states have no recourse at all?" Smith said.

The immigration controversy will continue, since many expect the "show me your papers" provision to eventually reach the Supreme Court later, on its own.

Smith, a former police officer, considers "show me your papers" a non-issue.

He said police already can call federal immigration officials if they suspect someone is in the country illegally.