Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Jim Shee is one of 10 individuals, and the only Asian to join a civil rights lawsuit against Arizona's controversial immigration law . (Nick Oza /The Arizona Republic)

by Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX -- Jim Shee says he never experienced discrimination, let alone racial profiling, until his 70th birthday.

Shee, a Paradise Valley, Ariz., real-estate investor of Chinese and Spanish descent, was driving to meet friends for lunch on April 6, 2010, his birthday, when he stopped on a side street in west Phoenix to check a text message.

A Phoenix police officer approached and tapped on his car window.

"Let me see your papers," Shee says the officer told him.

"That is the very first thing he said," recalled Shee, now 72.

Shee, whose civil-rights battle against Arizona's strict immigration law is credited with highlighting the law's impact beyond the Latino community, was taken aback.

Born in Tucson, Shee has been a U.S. citizen all his life. No police officer had ever asked him for his "papers."

When he asked why he'd been stopped, Shee says the officer told him, "You looked suspicious."

Less than two weeks later, Shee said, he was profiled again by police.

This time, he was with his Japanese-American wife, Marian, driving back to the area after taking her across the border in San Luis, Sonora, to have some dental work done.

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