Alabama: The “Show Me Your Papers” State

MoonHowler

From the Newsleader.com:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Authorities said Wednesday they dropped a charge against a German Mercedes-Benz executive who was arrested under Alabama’s new crackdown on illegal immigration after a police officer caught him driving without identification required by the law.

While Tuscaloosa police arrested the man last week for not having proper citizenship documents while driving a rental car in the city, city attorney Tim Nunnally said in an email the charge was dismissed after the man later provided the documents in municipal court.

Police identified the man as Detlev Hager, 46. The company said he was in Alabama on business at the time but declined further comment.

The arrest drew widespread attention because the German automaker is one of the state’s leading employers, and its decision to build its first U.S. assembly plant in Alabama in 1993 provided the spark that helped lead to the state’s large automotive industry, which includes foreign manufacturers Honda, Hyundai and Toyota.

Republicans who support the immigration law say it will help create jobs for legal Alabama residents by driving away illegal immigrants, but some business leaders and critics of the law contend similar arrests could hurt economic development in the state by making it a less-attractive location for foreign companies.

 

This certainly sounds like dumb and dumber.  In the heart of Dixie, a state with a horrible track record on race relations should be doing everything in its power to attract new business and to improve its image.  The area is ripe for attracting new business because it is a right to work state, as a fairly low tax base, and already has an automotive industry base.  So what clod decided to arrest one of the Mercedes Benz executives?  Did they think they had discovered some well- preserved old Nazi on the run from I.C.E.?  

 

 

Alabama Immigration Ruling: Judge compels schools to track immigration status of children

MoonHowler

The rulings are in but the dust is far from settled.  Many of us are still trying to sort out what has been allowed and what has not.  One thing that remains is particularly troubling– schools will be directed to track the immigration status of school children.

According to Yahoo.com:

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn sided with the state of Alabama on Wednesday on two key sections of the state’s wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants. Blackburn refused to enjoin a law that will compel elementary and secondary school administrators to demand students provide birth certificates to prove they were born in the United States, and then compile lists of illegal immigrant children in their schools. In theory, schools could begin to ask parents about their children’s immigration status today, though it’s unclear if they will do so, since school has already started.

In the first place, schools require birth certificates having nothing to do with this ruling.  Students entering school for the first time present  a birth certificate.  A birth certificate does not necessarily determine status if not issued in the United States.   Students without US birth certificates will be on the ones in the line of fire and who will have to provide status information. 

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Churches Sue Alabama

MoonHowler

Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Last week the immigration issue kept creeping back into the conversations on here. Well let’s have at it.

Church leaders in Alabama are suing the state over their new bundle of anti-immigration laws.  Why?  The churches say that the laws prevent them from doing what churches do–minister to the poor.  Some religions leaders say, as the law stands, that they could be arrested for feeding an immigrant or helping in times of sickness.  In other words, they feel that the Alabama government in interfering with the separation of church and state.

Alabama has legislated new laws based on the F.A.I.R. model, similar to those first passed in the July 2007 Resolution here in PWC.  These might even be more draconian.

Meanwhile, in Hoover Alabama, tea party forces support the new law:

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Alabama governor signs draconian illegal immigrant law

MoonHowler

Governor Robert Bentley signed the strictest illegal immigrant law package in the United States this week.  According to Huffington Post:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s governor on Thursday signed a tough new illegal immigration crackdown that contains provisions requiring public schools to determine students’ immigration status and making it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.

The bill also allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they’re stopped for any other reason. Alabama employers also are now required to use a federal system called E-Verify to determine if new workers are in the country legally.

Gov. Robert Bentley said the law is the nation’s toughest, and groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center agree. The groups say they plan to challenge it.

Bentley believes that the Alabama law can withstand Constitutional scrutiny.  He campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration.  Other sources have stated that Alabama leaders feel this law will open up jobs to Americans.  Studies have shown that many Americans simply won’t do the type of work that many immigrants are happy to do. 

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