#AL State ACLU plans immigration law protest at Capitol
#AL State ACLU plans immigration law protest at Capitol
#tcot #teaparty #illegals #noamnesty
Auburn, Ala. --A representative from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama says the rights group plans to protest at the State Capitol this week and lobby lawmakers to repeal the state’s anti-immigration law during the current legislative session.
“For a number of reasons, ACLU of Alabama feels HB56 is an unconstitutional law and that is why they are litigating the law,” said Elizabeth Brezovich, an immigration rights organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama.
Brezovich and Rachel Ray presented an educational forum on Alabama’s anti-immigration bill Sunday afternoon at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Auburn.
She said the ACLU of Alabama opposes HB 56 for constitutional reasons. Brezovich said the federal government is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, and provisions in HB56 can lead to racial profiling or racial discrimination.
“Some of the provisions are unconstitutional because they are giving police certain authority that the police are not meant to have, in terms of detaining people who have done nothing wrong,” she said.
Brezovich said the rights group has two roles in the debate, helping litigate the challenges to the law in federal court and drumming up grassroots support for the repeal.
“The ACLU of Alabama is also part of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice that is organizing more local grass roots campaigns against HB56,” she said.
Brezovich said the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice opposes the law because its mission, in the long term, is for justice for all immigrants in Alabama and for an inclusive community for all immigrants in the state.
She said this Tuesday is the “One Heart, One Alabama Day” as part of the overall “One Family, One Alabama” campaign against HB56.
The Alabama Coalition for Immigration Justice is planning the “One Heart, One Alabama” rally and lobby day to repeal HB56 at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Alabama State House, 11 S. Union St., Montgomery.
She said the group expects several thousand to attend a short rally in front of the State House, and then people will be given a chance to go find their senators and representatives and talk to them.
“The public has not been given a chance to have any feedback on this law,” she said. “We want people’s senators and representatives to hear from them about how they feel.”
Brezovich asks that people who have stories about the impact this law has had on their lives to call the hotline 800-982-1620.
