One of my ex-girlfriends was of Hispanic descent, and was born in New Mexico. While living in Rochester, NY, she was driving her mother's Ford Escort, which had New Mexico plates on it.

One evening, a Rochester police officer followed her home to our suburban apartment from her downtown office. In the parking lot, he proceeded to detain her and demand that she present her green card, since she was obviously a Mexican given the plates on her car. The fact that she had a valid New York driver's license, and plenty of other supporting identification documents, didn't override the damning evidence of the registration tags for this officer.

The ex-girlfriend, having relatives who were cops, politely objected. The officer apparently called his sergeant for backup. When the sergeant arrived, he educated the patrolman on the fact that New Mexico is part of the United States, and people from New Mexico are U.S. citizens who do not need green cards...

There are plenty of intelligent cops out there. There are also some astoundingly stupid ones. This is why we have laws and Constitutions that limit police power.

Customers turned away by employees who were on their lunch break?

In the U.S., depending on the state, that could be a legal obligation of the company. For instance, in New York, most day-shift employees are entitled to a half-hour lunch break sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. during which time their employer may not permit them to work. The employee cannot waive this. It's part of the state Labor Law. It even applies to salaried workers and managers.

If the company needs to serve customers during the lunch hour, it's on the employer to make sure they're staffed adequately so that they have people who aren't on lunch break to provide that service.