Thread: Luther Strange Sought to Weaken Alabama’s Tough Immigration Law

by JEFF POOR
19 Sep 2017
1,926 comments

Back in 2011, Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) sought to weaken what at the time was one of the country’s toughest illegal immigration laws.

As attorney general of Alabama, Strange requested that key provisions of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, also known as HB 56, be removed according to a December 2011 memorandum he sent to then-Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh.

The memo, originally obtained by AL.com, showed Strange wanted to end some of the requirements in the law. Among those were a mandate that officials collect information on the immigration status of public school students, the requirement illegal immigrants carry “alien registration” cards and a provision of the law that allowed for lawsuits if the state’s residents did not believe officials were enforcing the law.

Strange said at the time his reasoning for those suggestions was so that the law would be more defensible in a court of law.

However, then-Rep. Micky Hammon (R), one of the bill’s sponsors, indicated those stipulations were part of how HB 56 would make it possible to achieve the goal of combatting illegal immigration.

“My purpose was to make it difficult for illegal immigrants to live and work in Alabama,” Hammon said according to a November 2011 Associated Press report.

America’s Voice, a left-leaning group that seeks to give “full citizenship” for illegal immigrants, or as it calls them “11 million Americans-in-waiting,” applauded Strange’s recommendations.

“The tide is turning,” Van Le wrote for the group in a December 2011 blog post. “The struggle to overturn HB 56, Alabama’s harshest-in-the-land immigration law gained a new ally day before yesterday when state attorney general Luther Strange, a Republican, came out in favor of removing certain portions of the law.”

Eventually, due to pressure from immigration groups, the Obama Justice Department and the federal court system, the law was gutted in a settlement the state of Alabama reached with Strange as attorney general.

In the aftermath, lawmakers acknowledged the settlement had damaged the effectiveness of the law.

“Our bill got eviscerated by the federal government,” State Rep. Jim Carns told The Washington Post in August 2015 when then-GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump came to Mobile. “It was like 95 percent within the federal standards, but those standards weren’t being enforced. We enforced them, and it worked for several months until the feds did their thing.”

Still, at least in recent days, Strange has attempted to make himself out to be a hawk on the issue of illegal immigration.

The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a super PAC backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and working on Strange’s behalf, took aim at his opponent former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. It alleged he was weak on immigration because of his unfamiliarity with the term “DACA,” the acronym for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy.

The issues of illegal immigration is an important one, give this special election contest is to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jeff Sessions, a champion of that cause.

Strange and Moore compete in a runoff election for the Republican nomination on September 26. The winner will go on to face former Clinton U.S. Attorney Doug Jones in a December 12 special election.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...migration-law/

Hopefully, the citizens in Alabama will reject "Amnesty Luther". When "Amnesty Don" campaigns this weekend for him I hope we see signs in the crowd that say "NO" to DACA, dreamers, amnesty, period. Luther Strange being backed by Mitch McConnell and Karl Rove and other establishment types sends a strong message to citizen voters to run away from the swamp dwellers and their candidates.

I can only surmise that Trump is supporting this candidate because of some changes in positions by Strange that we don't know about or simply because he's the incumbent, or something else. Maybe we'll find out at the rally Trump is attending on Saturday. Just not sure why Trump is even getting involved in a primary battle to begin with. He must have a reason, health care, tax cuts, both or something else. Could be the health care bill to repeal Obamacare.

Originally Posted by Judy

I can only surmise that Trump is supporting this candidate because of some changes in positions by Strange that we don't know about or simply because he's the incumbent, or something else. Maybe we'll find out at the rally Trump is attending on Saturday. Just not sure why Trump is even getting involved in a primary battle to begin with. He must have a reason, health care, tax cuts, both or something else. Could be the health care bill to repeal Obamacare.

I think Trump is endorsing Sen. Luther Strange simply because Sen. McConnell asked him to. Knowing what we know about Strange, Trump's support is sort of shocking (IMO).

It is interesting that's for sure, I personally don't know why he's involving himself in this primary race. Maybe we'll find out more at the rally in Alabama on Saturday.

Originally Posted by Judy

It is interesting that's for sure, I personally don't know why he's involving himself in this primary race. Maybe we'll find out more at the rally in Alabama on Saturday.

I doubt we'll learn anything specific. Trump will probably just get on stage and say how magnificent Strange is and that he needs his support in the Senate.

Yeah probably so.

Originally Posted by MW

I think Trump is endorsing Sen. Luther Strange simply because Sen. McConnell asked him to. Knowing what we know about Strange, Trump's support is sort of shocking (IMO).

I also think think that this is due to some deal with McConnell.

Trump tweeted the reason this morning:

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 1h 1 hour ago

Looking forward to Friday night in the Great State of Alabama. I am supporting "Big" Luther Strange because he was so loyal & helpful to me!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Originally Posted by Judy

Trump tweeted the reason this morning:


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

I'm going to suggest that was a canned statement. Supposedly it was Trump's endorsement of Strange in the primaries that cost Rep. Mo Brooks his opportunity. From what I read Moore was already in the runoff and Strange and Brooks were duking it out until Trump came in with his endorsement for Luther Strange.

Excerpt:

“But then you have the anti-establishment swamp-drainer himself coming in to endorse [Strange],” said Scott Stone, a veteran Republican campaign strategist in Alabama who is unaffiliated with any of the candidates. “It’s going to give some Mo Brooks supporters pause.”

Among those supporters are some of the president’s most ardent boosters on the political right. Brooks has been endorsed by Fox News anchor and Trump-whisperer Sean Hannity, whom Brooks knows personally from a stopover by Hannity in Alabama during the early ’90s; conservative radio host Mark Levin; and commentator Laura Ingraham.

“Luther Strange is the favorite of all the people who in my mind have been a problem for conservatism in the last 20 years,” Ingraham saidwhen she announced her endorsement.

But now the president, too, might be part of the “problem” — a revelation that has been difficult for some of his loyal backers to stomach. Levin on Monday blasted “Trump’s pathetic endorsement of Luther Strange, McConnell's RINO puppet, screwing conservatives in Alabama and across the nation.”

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ar...ng_134715.html

Trump's endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange certainly isn't in keeping with his promise to drain the swamp.