A few days before Arizona Senate Bill 1070 was signed into law, James Garcia dropped his cell phone while driving home from work late at night. When he pulled over to retrieve it, he saw flashing lights in his rear-view mirror.

When an officer wearing a brown uniform knocked on his passenger window, “my impulse was to think, ‘I’m going to be harassed,’” said Garcia, founder and producing artistic director of Phoenix-based New Carpa Theater Co.

As it turns out, the officer wasn’t part of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse, but an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer asking if Garcia needed any help.

While he wasn’t harassed or profiled as he feared, Garcia said it’s wrong that he feels this way because of the anti-immigrant climate in Arizona.

The state’s new immigration law “essentially sends the message to the Latino community that you are not welcome in the country you were born in and live in and contribute to,” he said. “That’s great harm to who we are as a people in regard to our ability to live and work and prosper.”

In the past month, Arizona lawmakers have lifted bans on concealed weapons and eliminated gun permits; passed a “birther” bill for presidential candidates to prove their citizenship; and invoked the toughest immigration law in the country.

The triple whammy has sparked a national outcry and demands for state boycotts, making Arizona the butt of jokes everywhere, from Saturday Night Live to The Colbert Report.

Garcia said he won’t carry documentation with him to prove he is a U.S. citizen.

“I am not going to be forced to carry my passport within the boundaries of the United States of America,” he said.

But not all American-born Hispanics feel that way. Gilbert Cano, founder of Hispanic marketing firm Tucan Consulting Group in Phoenix, said he has never had to think about carrying his passport before.

“I feel like I might have to carry around my passport just to avoid conflict,” said the third-generation American. “There are going to be a lot of innocent people who will be harassed because they don’t have their passports with them.”

Alexander Anaya, founder of Peoria-based Anayalators LLC, a consulting firm targeting Hispanic companies, said his biggest concern is whether he should ask his friends for identification before giving them a ride in his car.

“I think they will profile me,” said Anaya, a first-generation American.

Employment attorney Joseph Clees, Phoenix managing partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, said the new law creates plenty of uncertainty for employers, including Hispanic business owners.