Thread: 4 Ala. immigrants sue for removal from online listing

Brian Lyman, The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser10:05a.m. EST February 8, 2013

Database was authorized as part of changes to the state's immigration law last year.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Four Latino immigrants have filed suit against the state of Alabama, seeking to block their possible inclusion in a proposed online state database of court appearances by those accused of being in the country unlawfully.

The database was authorized as part of changes to the state's immigration law last year, although it has not yet been posted online. Gov. Robert Bentley signed off on the changes last May.

Under the law, the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) is required to compile a report of court appearances by those unlawfully present in the country, the name of the judge, the violation and the adjudication of the case. The immigrant is to be included in the database regardless of whether they are found guilty or acquitted.

"The first thing we see is there's no way for a person to challenge their inclusion on the list," said Tomas Lopez, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, representing the plaintiffs in the case along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center. "The statute just lays out what is to be done."

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange's office had no comment on the lawsuit Thursday. Asked about the complaint, GOP House Speaker Mike Hubbard said Thursday it would be up to the courts to decide it.

Lopez said the plaintiffs are four Mexican nationals, including a mother, her adult daughter, her daughter's husband and the mother's niece.

The four were arrested for fishing license violations last November and booked into jail, according to the lawsuit. One of the plaintiffs, known as Jane Doe No. 1, was detained for two days while officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency, checked her status. ICE determined she was in the country unlawfully but did not pursue removal proceedings.

The plaintiffs have a court date "in mid-February," according to the complaint. The suit says the plaintiffs came to the United States between six and 10 years ago.

The bill making the changes, known as HB 658, had the support of House and Senate Republican leadership, and did not initially include the database provision. GOP Sen. Scott Beason, a co-sponsor of the original immigration law, known as HB 56, inserted the database provision into a substitute to the bill. That substitute removed many of the changes favored by leadership.

Beason said in an interview Thursday that the database was aimed at collecting information on the activity of undocumented immigrants in the state. He compared the database to newspapers running pictures of individuals arrested in local communities.

"We're trying to get a handle on how many illegal aliens are committing crimes, how many have committed multiple crimes, and it's good for legislators and the public to know what's happening," he said.

The law also requires the Alabama Department of Homeland Security to post the database online. The immigration page of the DHS' website says that as of Oct. 1, 2012, "no cases have been reported."

"We've never received anything (from AOC) to post," said Leah Garner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. "We've just received the statement saying there's nothing to post."

AOC spokesman Scott Hoyem said Thursday they did not have a report on the number of undocumented immigrants in court. He declined further comment on the suit.

Lopez said they hoped the lawsuit would prevent a database from ever being posted.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Alabama, argues that the database assumes immigration status is a fixed condition, when it is significantly more mutable.

"The complexity and fluidity of immigration status is a fundamental feature of federal immigration law," the lawsuit states. "It is a direct consequence of the system of immigration regulation that Congress has prescribed and accommodates many important national interests including, for example, the nation's humanitarian and international law obligations regarding the treatment of people fleeing persecution or torture."

The complaint goes on to say that being included in the database would, among other effects, significantly affect the plaintiffs' employment opportunities and permanently brand them as undocumented aliens, even if their future immigration status changes.

4 Ala. immigrants sue for removal from online listing

Tomas Lopez, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, representing the plaintiffs in the case along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center. "The statute just lays out what is to be done."

That the SPLC is at the root of this is not surprising. They have, in my opinion, become nothing but a shill for the Socialist Democrats.

Why don't these people want anyone to know who they are? This is my concern. Americans citizens information is all over the internet if they break the law..Free for anyone to look up... more special treatment for illegals ..this is getting old real fast ..