Questions pour in to Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama about Alabama immigration law

The line for the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama's walk-in clinic spilled out of the building and filled the metal folding chairs lining the sidewalks outside the organization's west Homewood headquarters Wednesday.

The people in line had come to ask questions about the new immigration law and to take legal steps to protect themselves and their families in case they were arrested and deported.

Even those in the country legally said the new law has cast a shadow over their existence.

Liliana Maldonado's daughters, Xochitl, 3, and Itzel, 1, laughed and played with a stack of colorful copy paper, oblivious to implications of the new law. While Maldonado is a legal resident and the children citizens, Maldonado's husband, a construction worker, is not.

He works hours away and she worries that he'll be pulled over one day, jailed and deported, leaving her to struggle to pay the mortgage on the home they own in Bessemer.

"I wouldn't be able to support those payments," she said.

That's but one example of the swirl of stresses and legal complications arising from the new law, reputed to be the toughest in the country.

Mark Love, HICA's legal services director, said many people had come seeking notarization of power of attorney forms appointing a responsible party to care for their children if the parents are arrested for not having proof of legal residency.

Others are wondering:

If you don't have legal status, what do you do about renewing your business license?

How would you sell a house or property if contracts made with those here illegally are not legally binding?

Must you transfer title of your car to a legal resident if you need to renew your tag?

What would happen to your property in the event of deportation?

Vanessa Stevens, a communications coordinator for HICA, said people have a misconception that those without legal status are recent arrivals who can just pack up and leave. "Some of these people have been here 10 to 20 years. They own homes. Their kids grew up here," she said.

Maldonado, who speaks English with a fusion of Alabama and Spanish accents, has lived most of her life in Alabama and felt comfortable. Now, she feels like people are staring at her.

"They look at you like you are another illegal," she said. "You know, it is hard. I feel like it is racist against us."

But, because of her legal resident status, Maldonado isn't afraid of going out.

Her aunt, Guadalupe, is. Because of her fear of arrest under the immigration law, she declined to give her last name.

She and her husband have been in the U.S. for 19 years. Both work for a cleaning service, among other jobs. Their four children -- 17, 14, 11 and 8 -- were all born here. They own a home in the Oxmoor Valley.

With Maldonado serving as a translator, Guadalupe said the new law has made her sad and fearful of going out in public. "You have to think: If I leave the house, I might not come back," she said. "Is this something important, something that I have to do?"

Guadalupe said they are waiting to see how the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on a Justice Department appeal of the law, most of which has gone into effect. If the law stays in place, the family will probably leave.

"Why be scared living every day?" she said.

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