If a cop knows two blocks down a house was robbed, and he sees someone walking down the street with a TV, I think most republicans want that man stopped and questioned, even though the cob did not see that man commit a crime. 

A country is suposed to be about the rule of law. The people we intrust to make sure that law is upheld need some level of ability to do there job. If someone is suspected of committing a crime, an officer of the law should be allowed to investigate further.

Being hispanic is not the same as looking like your an illegal alien as well. I think if a cop arrested someone, or even questioned him more then he should, and the only reason that cop gives for doing so is "he was hispanic", then that cop should be reprimanded.

I am not a cop, but I am sure if you ask one, every one of them will have an answer. I bet you would be hard pressed to find one who said "good question. I have no clue".

Here is what I love about Republican laws....

This law has the chance to do one of two things:

It could be the avenue that allows cops to question known ilegal aliens with virtually no American citizens being questioned, and thus helping us catch people in this country how have committed a crime (someone I hope everyone wants).

or:

It could become something that ends up negatively effecting many Americans, or foreign nationals who are here legally, and be way to evasive into there lives.

If the second one becomes the problem, there is a very simple solution. Stop doing it. Change the law.

Now Democrate laws, like medicare and medicaid... try overturning that shit. See what happens.

The worst thing this could be, is a bad idea that's quickly fixed. I am ok with making that mistake on the chance that this becomes a great tool to help keep this country a rule of laws.

Racial profiling works for terrorists, but only in the very short term. Do you really think terrorists are stupid and don't know this racial profiling goes on? Once it starts being implemented heavily the terrorists start changing the people they recruit. There are plenty of would-be terrorists that don't fit the racial profile norm.

I too don't mind being checked, but only if it works.

Sadly, I think there is far too much concern in the United States about illegal immigrants and Racial Profiling, and not nearly enough on dramatically increasing the security on the US-Mexico border. If the United States put a significant effort into it they could probably reduce the number of people who crossed the border illegally each year by 90% to 95% ... This would result in massive benefits to both illegal immigration as well as crime because it would (hopefully) cut down on the guns and drugs that cross the border which should significantly hamper the ability of drug cartels to operate.

I agree with you here. Except that your analogy is deeply flawed.

I don't understand the controversy because the police and other authorities do the same thing all the time already.

Let's say cops decide to look for drugs at a club. They wait outside and stop customers based on "reasonable suspicion". They won't pick people just randomly, they will actively choose people with typical appearance associated with the use of drugs, based on the cop's own (subjective) experience. They question and possibly frisk the persons, but that's not the same thing as arresting a person.

If you go through that customs thingy in airports - which people are the customs guys more likely to check for drugs and other stuff? They don't do it randomly, they choose people based on lots of different characteristics no matter if it's politically correct or not.

Same with asylum seekers (who in the EU every nation seeks to stop even before they have a chance to enter your country - meaning at the airport). They check the papers based on the ethnical looks of individuals. A Swedish looking person will never be asked to show his Visa when entering through any Western European airport.

Same with Mafoo's example of airports and the search for terrorists. Why would they start searching the bags of an ordinary looking family with 2 parents, 2 kids and a dog?

The proposal says "would require police to stop anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant." and "the police must stop people on “reasonable suspicion”".

This is ordinary everyday police work and has nothing to do with discrimination. It's a certain infringement on your personal integrity, but that's how the police must work - to check lots of innocent people to find just a few criminals.

I don't care if I would fit into the bracket for being a terrorist. If it was people like me, I would understand why it would be me getting randomly searched. As long as safety is paramount then fine, if people who looked like me where suspected of being illegal then so be it, search.

After all, if you have nothing to hide then why care if your being searched? You would have nothing to worry about...

EDIT: They actually do this in London, they check if anyone is acting "suspeciously" and question them and ask for identity.

They do this in Spain's metros quite often. A bunch of workers will get on and start asking for papers while people are sitting down. Me being tall, white, nlonde, blue eyed has kept them from checking me. They almost always just pass me by.