Katie Couric's Notebook: Arizona Battle

A new and controversial law in Arizona will require police to stop suspected illegal immigrants...and check their documentation. Some critics say it's the equivalent of racial profiling. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham went further, calling it unconstitutional.

While many find the law misguided, they also realize eliminating it won't eliminate the problem that provoked it.

An estimated half million illegal immigrants live in Arizona. In the past three years, nearly one million people have been arrested along Arizona's border...trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Many of them contribute to society in a positive way, but it's also true that drug trafficking and drug-related kidnappings are out of control in Arizona.

To answer the question I posed, I don't know what an illegal immigrant looks like...but I know this issue is far more than skin deep.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.