Justice Department Asks Appeals Court to Block Alabama Immigration Law

Updated: Friday, 07 Oct 2011, 11:32 AM CDT
Published : Friday, 07 Oct 2011, 11:32 AM CDT

(NewsCore) - The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal appeals court to halt the enforcement of Alabama's controversial new immigration law.

US District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn upheld most sections of the law late last month, saying federal statutes did not preempt the state's law because Congress has not prevented states from playing a role in immigration enforcement.

But the Justice Department on Tuesday asked the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to overturn Blackburn's decision and on Friday took the more aggressive step of requesting the 11th Circuit to prohibit the enforcement of the law pending the outcome of the appeal.

"We therefore ask that the Court hear this appeal on an expedited basis to resolve the constitutional issues presented," the Justice Department said in its filing. "In the interim, the public interest, as well as the interests of the United States, will be served by an injunction pending appeal."

Lawyers for the Justice Department claim the law unconstitutionally invades the federal government's "exclusive authority over immigration."

The law, originally signed by Alabama's Republican Gov. Robert Bentley in June, was scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1, but Blackburn issued a preliminary injunction on the law until she could fully decide on its constitutionality. On Sept. 28, she upheld provisions of the law related to police stops and detentions of suspected illegal immigrants.

She also upheld sections requiring schools to check the citizenship status of children and sections that nullify contracts knowingly made with illegal immigrants. In addition, Blackburn did not block the section that declared it a felony for an unauthorized alien to apply for a license plate, driver's license or any type of business license.

However, the judge struck down sections that made it a crime to transport illegal immigrants and sections that prohibited unauthorized aliens from seeking work in the state. She also said the state could not bar illegal immigrants from enrolling in public universities. The Justice Department agreed with Blackburn on the portions of the law she found unconstitutional.

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