Thread: Feds investigating immigration law impact

Feds investigating immigration law impact - AL

cbs42.com
Reported by: Scott Packard
Published: 4:38 pm

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) - Attorneys with the United States Department of Justice are spending a few days in the Birmingham area meeting with business leaders and non-profit organizations. They are looking into the effects of Alabama's immigration law.


The DOJ's comments from a Monday meeting with reporters are posted below.

REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL PEREZ AT A PEN-AND-PAD BRIEFING IN ALABAMA

Good Morning. We are here to continue our investigation into the impact of H.B. 56. This investigation is separate and apart from the pre-emption lawsuit.

The more we hear, the more concerned we are about the impact of Alabama’s immigration law on a wide range of federal rights. This is why we have returned to Alabama to gather additional information. We continue to receive calls on our hotline 855-353-1010, and messages on our email at hb56@usdoj.gov.

We continue to be concerned that kids are dropping out of school, or are chronically absent from school. Every school aged child who is a resident of Alabama has a constitutional right to a public education, regardless of immigration status. I would note that almost 99% of public school students in Alabama are U.S. citizens. Last month, we sent a letter to 39 school districts requesting enrollment and attendance information. We appreciate the cooperation we are receiving from school superintendents and teachers. Their concern, like ours, is about providing equal educational opportunity to all children in a safe, nurturing learning environment.

We continue to be concerned that certain employers may be using H.B. 56 as an excuse not to pay workers. We are joined today by officials from the U.S. Department of Labor so we can gather relevant information and send a clear message to employers that the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other key federal labor laws, remain in full force and effect in
Alabama and across America.

We continue to be concerned about the potential for racial profiling in the aftermath of H.B. 56. Police officers in Alabama and across America perform critically important public safety functions. We are hearing troubling reports of individuals being stopped simply because of their appearance. We continue to investigate such allegations, and we intend to work with local law enforcement across the state to remind them of their continuing obligation to engage in constitutional policing.

As a result of preliminary fact gathering, we are also beginning the process of reaching out to local law enforcement, courts and advocates for victims of domestic violence. We are increasingly concerned that one of the consequences of H.B. 56 is that some victims of domestic violence are being driven further underground because they may no longer see courts as a safe haven. We want to work with local law enforcement, courts and nonprofits to address these issues.

We have reached out to fair housing groups, faith leaders and others in an effort to determine the impact of this law on people’s ability to access housing free from discrimination. We will continue to coordinate these efforts with our partners at the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. A federal judge in Montgomery last week issued a temporary restraining order, which suspended enforcement of a contracting provision of the bill as it applied in the mobile home context. We are carefully reviewing
this Order and are conducting our own evaluation of whether the contract provisions, as applied, implicates other federal civil rights laws.

We will be meeting with a wide array of individuals and organizations today and in the days and weeks ahead. We are meeting with business leaders to hear directly from them and to brainstorm with them about how best to communicate the message that employers who refuse to pay workers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of federal law. We will continue to meet with lawyers, nonprofit leaders, faith community and other key stakeholders as part of this investigation and in an effort to continue our fact finding.

http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/ ... x?rss=1659

We continue to be concerned that Democratic voters are going home to Mexico.

Officials probe Alabama immigration law's impact on rights

Reuters 7:00 p.m. CST, November 28, 2011

By Peggy Gargis

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - Two Justice Department officials said they returned to Alabama on Monday as "boots on the ground" to sift through some of the more than 1,000 e-mails and calls received on a hotline fielding concerns about the state's tough new immigration law.

"The more we hear, the more concerned we are about the impact of Alabama's immigration law on a wide range of federal rights," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez told reporters at a briefing in Birmingham.

Perez, who leads the department's Civil Rights Division, said he and fellow Assistant Attorney General Tony West would meet with people in the business, nonprofit and faith communities to learn more about the complaints received.

He said the department continued to be concerned about students who were dropping out or frequently absent from school, as well as claims of racial profiling and some employers using the law as an excuse to not pay workers.

"Employers who continue to use (the law) as an escape valve should know that we're here, that we will prosecute," Perez said. "That is impermissible. Period."

The attorneys said their investigation into the law's impact was separate from an ongoing legal challenge by the Obama administration and a coalition of civil rights groups seeking to block it.

The law, which passed by large margins in both chambers of the Republican-led legislature earlier this year, has been described by supporters and opponents as the nation's toughest state crackdown on illegal immigration.

In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, halted a controversial provision that would allow Alabama to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children upon enrollment.

But the court ruled the state could continue to authorize police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

Federal judges have blocked key parts of other immigration laws passed in Georgia, Arizona, Utah and Indiana. The Justice Department was also seeking to halt parts of South Carolina's new immigration law, which is set to take effect in January.

West said the state-by-state approach was making immigration problems worse, not better.

"That kind of patchwork affects the quality of cooperation between state and federal law enforcement, making it harder to enforce immigration law consistently and efficiently throughout the country," West said.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Johnston)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns- ... 3638.story

Immigration: DOJ says new law complicates enforcement

Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 5:24 AM
By The Associated Press



BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) -- Alabama's new law against illegal immigration may hamper enforcement rather than being the tough crackdown sought by its supporters — by taking officers away from the vital job of prosecuting and deporting immigrants with criminal records, Justice Department lawyers said Monday.

The president of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police, Boaz Police Chief Terry Davis, agreed that officers are stretched by multiple duties, particularly with tight budgets. But, he said, enforcing the state law should not conflict with the broader federal goal of nabbing criminals who are in the country illegally.

"I can see where they're coming from ... but I think it's just another tool to use in doing our job," Davis said of Alabama's tough, new law. "We're going to get the federal folks involved just like we always have. I would hope it doesn't cause a conflict because we're all in this together."

U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, the top federal prosecutor for 31 counties in north Alabama, said local agencies already strapped for money and manpower are being forced to develop their own plans for enforcing the state law rather than concentrating on prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, the priority set by the Obama administration.

Vance said she and the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, Tom Perez, have met with local authorities to discuss what she called a "significant problem" of both enforcing the state law and tracking down criminal immigrants with only limited resources.

"Rather than strengthening immigration enforcement opportunities at a time, quite frankly, there are fewer resources than we have had in the past, this had made a more difficult environment for us to work in," Vance said.

Press aides to Gov. Robert Bentley, who signed the bill into law, and Attorney General Luther Strange, who is defending it in court challenges, didn't return messages seeking comment.

Vance commented during a news briefing with Perez and Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tony West. West was in Birmingham for a private meeting with business leaders, members of the state's immigrant community and others to discuss the law, which the Obama administration has filed suit to block.

While the administration has filed suit to block similar laws in Arizona, South Carolina and Utah, West said the situation in Alabama is different than anywhere else.

"We have a unique situation in this state because portions of the law have gone into effect, which we have not seen in other states," he said.

The department said it has received more than 1,000 telephone calls and emails to a hotline established for people to report possible abuses under the law, which supporters say is meant to make it impossible for illegal immigrants to live in Alabama.

Federal courts ruling in lawsuits filed by the Obama administration and other opponents of the law have temporarily blocked some of its provisions, but police are still required to ask for proof of citizenship and detain people who can't provide it. The administration contends federal law prohibits states from enacting immigration laws, but Republican supporters argue the federal government has failed to enforce immigration statutes for years.
_____

Jay Reeves with the Associated Press wrote this report.

http://blog.al.com/wire/2011/11/immigra ... law_c.html

Article above addd to the Homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-6808--0-0.html

It's always about making excuses to not deport these people.

Hey DOJ, how abut investigating how illegal immigration affects AMERICAN CITIZENS?

Related Thread:

DOJ: New immigration law could hamper enforcement

cbs42.com
Associated Press
November 28, 2011 - 6:50 PM




BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Top Justice Department lawyers say Alabama's new immigration law could actually hamper immigration enforcement rather than being the crackdown that supporters favor.

Read more: http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-256339.html

DOJ: Alabama immigration law could block federal enforcement

abc3340.com
By Thomas Lower
Nov 28, 2011 10:16 PM EST

BIRMINGHAM - AL -

Top Justice Department lawyers in Alabama on Monday said that the state's immigration law could actually stand in the way of federal immigration enforcement..

Supporters of the law had hoped that it would enhance enforcement of federal immigration policies. The Justice Department says there must be cooperation between the states and the federal government for proper enforcement.

But one U.S. attorney says local law enforcement may concentrate too much on enforcing the state law. That could take their attention away from going after illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

http://www.abc3340.com/story/16140319/d ... nforcement

Seems to me they're getting a bit worried about how well this law is working and want to nip it in the bud before folks can see the real benefits. The mere fact that classrooms are getting smaller, hospital emergency rooms are less crowded and unemployment has gone down in most counties in Alabama scares the crap out of the bleeding hearts.