We all recognize the image: A uniformed man pulls someone out of a line of people at a bus stop or orders someone walking along the street to stop. Then he holds out a hand and demands "Papers!" Some form of that scenario plays out in almost every movie about a police state where the law is at odds with human rights.

That's the kind of scene possible in Utah under Rep. Stephen Sandstrom's proposal to require immigrants to carry ID that proves they are living in Utah legally. It would require local officers to question anyone they believe is in the country without proper documentation. It would not require officers to show probable cause before demanding proof.

That means not only immigrants would have to carry papers. Citizens who, by their skin color or language, lead an officer to "believe" they might be undocumented would also have to prove their legal status.

Sandstrom, an Orem Republican, says there would be no racial profiling under his bill because it would not be directed at one specific ethnic group. Does he really believe that a white person would be as suspect as a Latino? And, if he's sincere, then everyone walking the streets of this state would need proof of citizenship, since coming up short when "papers" are demanded would automatically make a person, any person, look guilty.

Sandstrom's idea was prompted by Arizona passing a similar, and likely unconstitutional, law and his fear that a crackdown there would send waves of undocumented immigrants to Utah. But laws based on fear are dangerous.

Sandstrom says he'll see Arizona's law and raise the stakes, throwing out Utah's in-state tuition rates for the children of undocumented immigrants, despite a half-dozen votes in the Legislature to retain them, and end the sensible issuing of driver privilege cards to the undocumented. He would immediately require employers to run all prospective employees through the unreliable federal program E-Verify. A new law postpones that requirement for a year.

Undoubtedly, the federal government is at fault for failing over many years to stop illegal immigration and deal appropriately with the millions who have come here looking for work and a better life. Congress has to shoulder that responsibility. As a start, it should provide a reliable way to verify citizenship as a condition of employment.

But, until Congress acts, states should stick to enforcing local laws to protect the basic right of Americans to go freely about their business without worrying they might not have the right papers.