Occupy Birmingham protests immigration law in Gadsden Saturday

abc3340.com
By Haley Westbrook
Posted: Dec 03, 2011 6:26 PM EST

ETOWAH COUNTY-AL -

Hundreds of protestors stood in opposition of HB 56 outside Etowah County's jail Saturday. The protest was organized by the Occupy Birmingham movement.

"Any time that anybody is being sold out in having their hopes and dreams squashed by a powerful majority, we're going to stand against that," said Occupy Birmingham's Allyn Hudson.

The City of Gadsden issued a permit for the protest, and local authorities surrounded the detention center in case the protest presented any problems.

Protestors chose to march outside the detention center because because the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement leases space in the jail to house undocumented immigrants.

Officials with the Sheriff's Department said the protest has little to do with the detention center because federal officials will not enforce the immigration law. They added it's unlikely those impacted by the law will be detained inside.

"Those detainees have already committed crimes, they've already served their time in a state or a federal prison, and they're sent to our facility for holding," said Etowah County Sheriff Department's Public Information Officer Natalie Barton. "Then from there, they'll be deported."

A handful of those in favor of the state's immigration law held signs in opposition to the protest.

"I don't want somebody to have a free pass," said HB 56 supporter Billy Ledbetter. "That's a slap in the face to all the people that have learned about the course and entered into this country legally and properly."

http://www.abc3340.com/story/16181316/o ... n-saturday