“Oh good, then I don’t have to bother to get my drivers license renewed. I’ve always hated those pictures and if we don’t have to give our “papers” to the police when we’re stopped for a ticket, then I won’t need a license.”
Nice job on completely missing the point. You get pulled over (in theory at least;) because you’ve already violated the law. There’s well established precedent that in those circumstances you must present ID.
Being forced to present ID strictly on the whim of the police without any legal infraction is “a bridge too far”, IMO.
According to the AZ law, the cops have to have “reasonable suspicion” that the person broke the law by being in the U.S. illegally before the cop can check the status of the person.
This is not any different than the cops pulling over a guy, dressed in black, driving really slow in a neighborhood that he does not live in (the cops will run the plates to determine where the suspicious vehicle is from), especially if there have been reports of burglaries in the neighborhood recently. The cops will pull the vehicle over and verify that the driver is not breaking any laws based on the “reasonable suspicion” that the driver is not where he should be and may be casing the neighborhood. Based on the answers and ID given by the driver, the cops will either have “probable cause” to search the vehicle and/or arrest the driver or let the driver go.
Cops also will usually check the ID and question a dressed up woman standing on a busy street corner late at night due to a “reasonable suspicion” that this woman may be a prostitute. Based on the answers and ID given by the woman, the cops will either have “probable cause” to search and/or arrest the woman or just let her go.
So if a cop sees a person that is acting suspicious (like standing on a corner pandering for day labor or evading the cops) then the cops have “reasonable suspicion” to question the person. If, based on the answer and ID provided by the person, the cops determine that the person is here illegally (i.e. breaking the law) then the cops have “probable cause” to arrest the illegal, but if the person proves to be a citizen AND is not breaking any other law then the cops will let him go.
So as you can see, the “reasonable suspicion” burden of proof is used in many aspects of law enforcement and is not restricted to just illegal alien identification. If a cop can’t question a suspicious person that may be breaking the law by being in the U.S. illegally then why would a cop be able to question anyone for any other potential crimes? The AZ law is legal and valid for this situation.
The only time you can get arrested for "just standing around" is if you are loitering (example, hanging on the street corner soliciting work).