Asian-American questions Ariz. law SB1070

• Tweet

PHOENIX, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- An American citizen of Chinese and Spanish descent says he has learned Latinos are not the only ones affected by Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 immigration law.

Jim Shee, now 72, a Paradise Valley, Ariz., real estate investor, said he was stopped twice in 2010 while driving in Arizona. He is credited with highlighting the impact of the law, which requires immediate proof of citizenship status when demanded by police, beyond the Latino community, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic reported Monday.

When asked why he was stopped in April 2010 in Phoenix while pulled over to check a text message, he was told by a police officer, "You look suspicious," he said.

Shee was stopped again, two weeks later, and told his car's window tint was too dark, but he said he believed that stop was an example of racial profiling.

"I've never really experienced any type of discrimination, and then, wham, bam. Twice," Shee, who was born in Tucson, recalled.

The incidents occurred immediately before Arizona's immigration enforcement law was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer. Shee joined a civil-rights lawsuit in May 2010 against the law filed by a coalition of civil rights and immigrant-advocacy groups, the only Asian-American of the 10 individuals named in the lawsuit, the newspaper said.

The suit is pending in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.