In recent days the President and senior White House officials have—in the presence of foreign dignitaries—castigated a law passed in the state of Arizona. This new Arizona law directs that when law enforcement officers engage in a lawful stop, detention, or arrest, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to ask about a person’s legal status if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is unlawfully present in the U.S.

At the same time, a number of senior officials, including the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, have admitted in media interviews and congressional hearings that they either have not studied—or even read—the Arizona law. Nor have Administration officials drawn attention to the amendments to the measure, also signed into law, which specifically prohibit using race, color, or national origin even as a factor in determining whether a reasonable suspicion exists that a person is unlawfully present in the U.S. Rather, the Administration has chosen to inflame the debate over the Arizona law.