Alabama passes ‘toughest illegal immigration law in US’

Immigration rights activists plan court challenge to state law requiring public schools to check students’ status The Republican governor Robert Bentley has signed a crackdown on illegal immigration into Alabama law, with both supporters and critics considering the measures to be the toughest in the country. The crackdown will require public schools to determine the immigration status of students – an aspect not covered in an Arizona law that has been at the forefront of attempts by several US states to crack down on illegal immigrants. Under the Alabama law, police must detain someone they suspect of being in the country illegally if the person cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason. It also will be a crime to knowingly transport or harbour someone who is in the country illegally. The law imposes penalties on businesses that knowingly employ someone without legal resident status, and business licences could be suspended or revoked. The law – due to come into effect on 1 September – requires businesses to use a database called E-Verify to confirm the immigration status of new employees. “We have a real problem with illegal immigration in this country,” Bentley said after signing the law on Thursday. “I campaigned for the toughest immigration laws, and I’m proud of the legislature for working tirelessly to create the strongest immigration bill in the country.” Immigration rights advocates are vowing to challenge the law in court, after having sued to block similar measures in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. The US justice department also sued over Arizona’s law. The courts blocked the implementation of a provision allowing Arizona police to check the immigration status of people there . But the US supreme court recently endorsed a separate Arizona law requiring employers to use E-Verify . The court also ruled that Arizona could suspend or revoke business licences of companies that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Alabama’s law is unique in requiring public schools to determine, by review of birth certificates or sworn affidavits, the legal residency status of students. “We fear that it will, in effect, ban the student through fear and harassment,” Shay Farley, the legal director of Alabama Appleseed, a non-profit policy and legal advocacy organisation, said. Farley said there was concern about the increased financial burden on schools for collecting the information. “We definitely believe this is the nation’s toughest immigration law,” Jared Shepherd, a law fellow with the Alabama American Civil Liberties Union, said. The Alabama bill passed the state House of Representatives and Senate by large margins before landing on Bentley’s desk. Republicans took majority control of both chambers last year for the first time in 136 years. Civil and immigrant rights groups mounted a campaign against the measure, urging voters to contact the governor and ask him to veto the bill. Some pointed to concerns in Georgia, where farmers have complained that tough new curbs on immigration are creating a shortage of seasonal workers before they even come into effect. But Gene Armstrong, the mayor of Allgood, Alabama, a small community in which the Hispanic population has grown to almost 50%, said: “We managed in the past without illegal immigrants to pick the tomatoes here, and I haven’t heard anyone say that if we sent them all home nobody would be left to do that work. “When you have 9% unemployment, I think that some people who might not have wanted those jobs previously might reconsider.” Several states have enacted immigration restrictions, even though the US government considers it to be a federal issue. Alabama US immigration United States guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.