Thread: Alabama Senate Passes Arizona-Style Immigration Bill!

Alabama Senate Passes Arizona-Style Immigration Bill, Now Needs to be Reconciled with House Measure

Published April 22, 2011

The Alabama Senate passed a hard-line immigration bill similar to the controversial one in Arizona.

The Senate bill allows police to detain people they suspect of being undocumented immigrants and sets new penalties for businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers.

The bill cleared the Senate 26-6 and now goes to the House for consideration.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale, presented the proposal as a way to lower Alabama's 9.2 percent unemployment rate.

"There are thousands and thousands of jobs Alabamians could hold if they were not displaced by this illegal workforce," he said.

Beason said his bill includes portions of immigration laws passed by Arizona, Oklahoma and Missouri. His bill is not as strict as some of his fellow Republicans wanted, but Beason said it's designed to withstand court tests.

"If it's struck down in a month, what does it do for you?" he asked.

The bill requires police to verify a person's immigration status if they are stopped for a traffic offense and can't produce any documents, such as a driver's license or passport.

Those suspected of being in the country illegally can be detained.

"You are going to be out here profiling everyone," Democratic Sen. Bobby Singleton of Greensboro said.

Beason said motorists can't be stopped at random.

Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said the bill would lead to racial profiling and sends "a clear message to communities of color that the authorities are not to be trusted, making them less likely to come forward as victims of or witnesses to crime."

The biggest fight in the Senate came from some of Beason's fellow Republicans who wanted to remove language that will allow the state Department of Homeland Security to start hiring police officers. Beason said it's for proper coordination and enforcement, but Republican Sen. Paul Sanford of Huntsville called it "the dawn of big government Republicanism." His effort to strip the language from the bill failed 14-15.

Beason's bill is slightly different from one the House passed April 5. That bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Mickey Hammon of Decatur requires all businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to make sure anyone they hire has legal status. Beason's bill only requires E-Verify for businesses doing work for the state government or getting state grants.

Beason said he sees no need for a small business to go through that if the owner is hiring someone he's known all his life.

Both bills set out penalties for businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Gov. Robert Bentley said Thursday he had met with Beason and Hammon and urged them to work together on a combined bill that can pass before the legislative session ends in June.

Voting against the bill, in addition to Singleton and Sanford, were Democratic Sens. Billy Beasley of Clayton, Linda Coleman of Birmingham, Priscilla Dunn of Bessemer, and Quinton Ross of Montgomery.

In Indiana, meanwhile, the Republican-led House voted 64-32 Thursday for an immigration bill that would revoke some state tax credits for businesses that hire undocumented immigrants.

The bill is a watered-down version of a proposal that originally would have allowed police officers to ask people for proof that they are in the country legally.

Supporters say the state must act on immigration because Congress hasn't. But some opponents say the bill could hurt businesses, and others say immigration should remain a federal issue.

The watered-down version is in line with what Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels wants.

Bill sponsor Republican Sen. Mike Delph of Carmel says he hopes to hash out a compromise between the original bill and the latest version next week.

This is based on a story by The Associated Press.

Read more: http://www.latino.foxnews.com/latino/po ... z1KLeUut8g

"Don't back down Bama!" The only way to convince the rest of the country that everything illegal-supporters say is a lie is to pass this bill!

Related Thread Here

Ala. Immigration Bill Hot Topic In Local Hispanic Community
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-235798-alabama.html+bill

Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said the bill would lead to racial profiling

WOW! HERE IS A NEW TERM WE HAVE NOT HEARD BEFORE!

CNN admits Latino isn't a Race
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsvmM04h ... re=related
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-235528.html

ODDEP | Hiring Procedures | Federally Designated Race and Ethnic Categories

Federally Designated Race and Ethnic Categories

American Indian or Alaskan Native (Not Hispanic or Latino): A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North or South America (including Central America) and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

Asian (Not Hispanic or Latino): A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.

Black or African American (Not Hispanic or Latino): American, not of Hispanic Origin Persons having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. Includes persons who indicated their race as Afro-American, Black Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Nigerian, West Indian or Haitian.

Hispanic or Latino: Hispanics or Latinos are persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition. The federal government considers race and Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct concepts.

Multiracial/Two or More Races (Not Hispanic or Latino): Multiracial Americans are those people who belong to two or more of the federally designated racial categories. Includes all other persons not included in the "Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian" race categories. Per state law, having parents of different races.

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic or Latino): A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as "Native Hawaiian," "Guamanian or Chamorro," "Samoan," and "Other Pacific Islander."

White (Not Hispanic or Latino): A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

http://www.gsu.edu/oddep/30814.html

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - One provision of the new immigration law allows police to check immigration status during a traffic stop, something Olivia Turner finds thoroughly 'unconstitutional' and wrong.

"This law will invite rampant discrimination," said Turner. One of the champions of Alabama's new immigration law disagrees. The Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Mike Hubbard said in this statement released to WSFA 12 News today:

"Make no mistake, this lawsuit will not undo Alabama's immigration law. If the court finds problems with parts of the law, tweaks can be made. But Alabama is not going to be a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants. Alabama will have a strict immigration law and we will enforce it." The Speaker was just as adamant a few days ago while addressing a local civic club. "The operative word here is 'illegal' and somehow that's gotten lost," Hubbard said. Either way, this issue is now in federal court.

Three plaintiffs including the ACLU filed a motion asking the Northern District Court of Alabama to simply block the law from taking effect in September. The plaintiffs want the judge to stop it now while deciding the constitutionality of the immigration law as challenged in the original suit.
"You're either legal or illegal. We want people to come to this country. We encourage people to come to this country but you have to go through the process like everybody else," said Hubbard.

Another troubling part of the law from Turner's point of view; the section that criminalizes a person if he helps an illegal even one whose car is broken down on the side of the road. "This will make them second class citizens and make them live in the shadows,' said Turner.

Supporters of the law say that is not accurate because if such a case went to court, the prosecution would have to prove 'intent,' the individual's intent of knowingly harboring an illegal. There's no word when the court will make a ruling. "Unfortunately, there's been a lot of scare tactics," said Hubbard.

Governor Robert Bentley, meantime, wouldn't say today whether he favors any tweaking of the new law. Mr. Bentley simply responded 'I favor a strong immigration law,' and blamed the federal government for not doing its job. A long standing debate that's just beginning.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/15126686/new- ... ontroversy

Second class citizens? Come again?

AG: Immigration suit "disfavored shotgun pleading"

By John Shryock
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is asking a federal court to require the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the state's new immigration law to provide some clarity to their lawsuit.

The AG's office wants to know which plaintiffs are suing which defendants and on what grounds. The motion, filed Wednesday described the complaint as "a disfavored shotgun pleading" and the AG's office said much of it was "inappropriately vague and immaterial". The Attorney General filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in the case of Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama et al. v. Robert Bentley. The lawsuit concerns a challenge to Alabama Act No. 2011-535, titled the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act. Attorney General Strange said he hopes the court will act upon his motion before ruling on the plaintiffs' request that was filed Thursday in which a preliminary injunction is being sought to halt enforcement of the immigration law.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/15126785/ags- ... tion-suit-

A comment on the above article was that the foreigners can't properly sue the state, so I located this:

Controversies Between a State, or the Citizens Thereof, and Foreign States, Citizens, or Subjects
The scope of this jurisdiction has been limited both by judicial decisions and the Eleventh Amendment. By judicial application of the law of nations, a foreign state is immune from suit in the federal courts without its consent,1066 an immunity which extends to suits brought by States of the American Union.1067 Conversely, the Eleventh Amendment has been construed to bar suits by foreign states against a State of the United States.1068 Consequently, the jurisdiction conferred by this clause comprehends only suits brought by a State against citizens or subjects of foreign states, by foreign states against American citizens, citizens of a State against the citizens or subjects of a foreign state, and by aliens against citizens of a State.1069

http://law.onecle.com/constitution/arti ... gners.html