Alabama Exposes a Severe Immigrant Law

Last Friday Robert Bentley, governor of Alabama, set one of the most severe immigrant law of the country based on the Arizona model. The bill mandates police to investigate and detain anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to believe may be undocumented.

The bill also forced public schools to determine the migratory condition of their students and it considers a crime to offer transportation to any undocumented. The bill also forces landowners to verify the immigrant status of their workers through the E-Verify system, the flawed federal employment verification system.

In September, the immigrant bill will start working, immediately after the law approval several groups began to protest against the bill that they consider racist. Mary Bauer, the legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, informed that they are pressing charges against the law in the court. Bauer said that this bill goes against all the work that Alabama has made with civil rights.

Cecilia Wan of the American Civil Liberties Union will also add a legal demand against the bill and also stated that such bill damages the work of what the civil rights represent. Wade Henderson, current president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights added that the bill is designed to scare the Latin community of the State.

According to Pew Hispanic Center, 70% of the Latin community in Alabama is from Mexico; Pew estimates that it harbours 120 thousand undocumented immigrants.

Source: Cadena de Noticias