Clinton: No doubt Arizona's immigration law invites profiling

There's no doubt that Arizona's new immigration law invites racial profiling, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday.

Clinton said she feared that citizens from other states who visit Arizona could be subjected to encounters with law enforcement because of their ethnic or racial heritage.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that," Clinton said when asked whether the law could lead to racial profiling.

The secretary of State said that while the law, which compels authorities to confront individuals whom they suspect of being illegal immigrants, is "clearly a result of the frustration that people in Arizona and their elected officials feel about the difficulty of enforcing the law along our border," it might mean harrassment for others.

"But on the other hand it is written so broadly that if you were visiting in Arizona and you had an accent and you were a citizen from my state in New York, you could be subjected to the kind of inquiries this law permits," Clinton said.

The Obama administration has been critical of the law, which is regarded as one of the toughest in the U.S., while Republicans have been generally more supportive of the law.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during the Sunday morning talk show circuit that the Justice Department is evaluating whether to wage a court challenge to the law.