When the law takes effect three months from now, barring any injunctions or other legal interruptions, it will be a crime to transport illegal immigrants, including day laborers. Businesses could have vehicles impounded for that, or for letting an undocumented worker drive a company car or truck, he said.

“The uncertainty in how law enforcement may attempt to enforce the law against employers is perhaps the biggest pitfall for employers,” Clees said.

Still, employers should not use the law to treat Latino workers differently from other groups, said Shayna Balch, an employment attorney with Fisher & Phillips LLP.

“Employers need to understand that this new law does not permit (them) to place any group of workers under increased scrutiny or question them about their immigration status beyond the current E-Verify and I-9 framework,” she said. “Rather, the bill is aimed at providing police officers with the authority to demand proper immigration paperwork from individuals if there is a reasonable suspicion that the individual is undocumented.”

Tommy Espinoza, president and CEO of Raza Development Fund in Phoenix, said he refuses to carry his passport or birth certificate with him every day.

“The worst part of this law is that it really is to intimidate Latinos, especially U.S.-born Latinos,” he said.

“I don’t believe this is just coincidence the way the law has been written. This law is really aimed at us,” he said. “The law is pulling out the worst side of human dignity. It brings an ugly spin of anger, and that anger is always negative.”

His friends are telling him they will only speak Spanish if they get pulled over, or refuse to show any type of identification.

“They said they will even take the hit on the ticket in defiance of what they’re doing in the name of immigration against our country,” he said.

Espinoza, who wears business suits every day, said he isn’t worried he’ll be profiled on his way to work in his Lexus, but he is worried about his son and grandson, who don’t dress as nicely.

“The law is ridiculous,” he said. “It’s a throwback to the ’50s and ’60s, when my father couldn’t go into certain restaurants because he was Mexican American.

“Anybody who tries to tell me differently, I would love to sit down civilly and walk them through the scars I carry from the Chicano movement where we fought these same battles,” Espinoza said. “This time it’s worse because it’s been turned into a law to profile Latinos.”

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Angela Gonzales writes for the Phoenix Business Journal. Mike Sunnucks is a reporter for the Phoenix Business Journal.