On October 14, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit temporarily blocked portions of Alabama’s strict immigration law, most notably a provision requiring public schools to check the immigration status of new students and their parents, and a section that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants not to carry registration documents. However, the court left in effect a provision that requires police to check the residency status of people they suspect of being illegal immigrants during traffic stops. The court also upheld a portion of the law that makes it a felony for illegal immigrants to enter into “business transactions” with the state, including applying for driver’s or business licenses.
The legislation, known as H.B. 56, was signed by Alabama’s Republican Governor Robert J. Bentley in June 2011 and is widely considered to be the toughest of the several anti-illegal-immigration laws approved by states including Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Indiana. The Obama Administration, which challenged the Alabama law as overly strict in August 2011, had suffered a defeat in late September 2011, when a federal judge upheld most of the sections of Alabama’s immigration law, including a section that required state and local law enforcement officials to try to verify a person’s immigration status during routine traffic stops or arrests. After the September ruling, media reports have surfaced that many of Alabama’s estimated 130,000 illegal immigrants were fleeing the state, and many Latino children were absent from Alabama schools, even though the law did not require schools to check the immigration status of continuing students. In early October, Latinos in several Alabama towns protested the law by staying away from work, which became known as a “Day without Latinos”, forcing some businesses to close for the day.
In a statement, Alabama Governor Bentley said that he is prepared to fight for the state’s immigration law in a lengthy legal process that is likely to follow. He said the law would not be needed “if the federal government had done its job by enforcing its own immigration laws”. The Obama administration maintains that the Constitution does not permit states to deter illegal immigration, saying an issue with foreign policy implications is the exclusive mandate of the federal government. Several social, political and religious organizations had sued Alabama officials over the immigration law, saying that it would promote racial profiling, specifically targeting Hispanics.
The new ruling, issued by a three-judge panel based in Atlanta, temporarily blocks the provision that would allow authorities to file misdemeanor charges against immigrants who are caught without documents proving their legal status and the provision that requires schools to determine the immigration status of newly enrolling children, until the court hears more arguments. The court is scheduled to hear the arguments in the case, known as U.S. v. Alabama (11-14532), within the next couple of months.
Attorneys at I.S. Law Firm have helped many immigrants to avoid deportation and legalize their status in the United States. To explore your immigration options, please contact us at 703-527-1779 or by e-mail: law@islawfirm.com.
