Are Republicans Burning Their Bridges By Supporting the Illegal Immigration Law in Arizona?

It seems with all of the uproar lately about the illegal immigration law in Arizona, that republicans would be taking a different approach than they are presently. Many republicans are supporting the law, because the law in spirit, is only in place to target illegal immigrants. So essentially the law is only a reinforcement of prior laws, right? If that was the case, then the new law would not even be necessary. One of the biggest changes in my opinion is that people who do not have proof of citizenship can be considered suspect of being in the country illegally. The law does not require that people possess identification for proof of citizenship, but it is considered reasonable suspicion if they do not have any. While this is a far cry from Nazism like some who are in opposition of the law have claimed, it still takes freedoms away from US citizens. Of course, the citizens whose rights will be most affected are those who appear to be of Mexican descent. Arizona's solution to this problem was to prohibit the use of racial profiling as reasonable suspicion. All this accomplishes in my opinion, is affect everyone's rights.

It surprises me how many people support the current law(a majority of Americans), including republican incumbents. Though I believe the support the law for the law comes from most people just wanting prior laws to be enforced, the concerns of people opposing the law should be respected. If the concerns of people objecting to the law are not legitimate, then it should be stated why, especially when there are different interpretations of the law. The republicans who support the law should address the concerns of people, or risk alienating people who currently support them for other reasons. And it surprises me that many republicans would risk this, especially when it seems that the benefit of the law is minimal, since there are already laws in place that address many of the objectives. These concerns are not absent to all republicans, as Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Karl Rove are among some of the republicans who have spoken out against the law. Mainly their concerns echo my own. The law just goes too far. People don't want to live in a country where you have to carry proof of citizenship in order to not be suspected of being here illegally. People do not want to feel like prisoners in their own neighborhoods. And the consequence of supporting the law could be that they lose loyal supporters who do not want their freedoms affected. Why would they take that chance, when the benefits just don't seem worth it? The republicans are risking the elections in November, which they currently have a perceived advantage in. Not only that, but if the law turns out as bad as many expect it to be, they could lose the support of a lot of people for the foreseeable future. When a certain demographic of people are affected by a law, and they see a specific party supporting that law, then its obvious what their reaction to that type of support would be. And people who support freedom will also be turned away. I don't know what else to say except it's just not worth it.