Over the last two years since the "show me your papers" provision of Arizona's anti-immigrant law SB 1070 went into effect, the ACLU has documented numerous cases of racial profiling and illegal detentions by law enforcement officials throughout the state. In Tucson alone, the ACLU has filed several "Notices of Claim" alleging that law enforcement officers regularly engage in racial profiling and illegal detention as a result of applying the law.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Arizona, and private firm Aiken Schenk Hawkins & Ricciardi P.C., have settled a federal lawsuit challenging an unconstitutional municipal ordinance that pressures landlords to evict a tenant if more than four calls to police are placed in 30 days or for crimes occurring at the property, even when the tenant is the victim.

(Formerly Friendly House et al. v. Whiting). The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the most hotly disputed part of Arizona's anti-immigrant law, S.B. 1070, which requires police to determine the immigration status of someone arrested or detained when there is "reasonable suspicion" they are not in the U.S. legally. The ACLU, along with a coalition of civil rights organizations, will continue to challenge the Arizona law on other constitutional grounds.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP of Maricopa County and the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) challenging a state law that relies on harmful racial stereotypes to shame and discriminate against Black women and Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women who decide to end their pregnancies.