By Hannah Wolfson
The Birmingham News
Published: Friday, January 20, 2012, 7:00 AM


UAB students and others march during an immigration rally protesting the HB56 Alabama immigration law on campus, Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

Students from several area colleges and universities will announce plans today to hold a week of events protesting Alabama's tough new immigration law.

The events will run from Jan. 30 through Feb. 3 and should involve students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College, the University of Montevallo, Jefferson State Community College and other Alabama schools.

William Anderson, a senior at UAB who is helping organize the protests, said the students hope to call attention to the unfairness of the law, often called HB56.

"There hasn't been a cross-campus political student movement here in Birmingham for quite some time," Anderson said. "And I think it's extremely important that it happen right now because there's an atmosphere in this country of oppression and attacks on rights."

Anderson said the group is planning a news conference at 1 p.m. today on the steps of Heritage Hall at UAB. The first event scheduled is a talk on Jan. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. in room 106 of Heritage Hall titled "The Impact of HB56 on Alabama."

Alabama students to protest immigration law (with slideshow) | al.com