Vandals strike Birmingham office of Hispanic group challenging immigration law


BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama officials, who spent much of Wednesday at a federal court hearing challenge to the state's new immigration law, said they arrived this morning at the organization's Birmingham office and found the building had been vandalized.

Isabel Rubio, HICA's executive director, said workers discovered shortly before 8 a.m. that Vienna sausages had been smeared all over the windows and front doors of the office on West Valley Avenue.

Rubio said HICA, a nonprofit group that promotes the social, civic and economic integration of Latinos in the state, is not sure if the vandalism is related to its efforts to block the immigration law, but the timing seems suspect.

She said a police report was filed today with Birmingham police.

Rubio said HICA intends to make sure the person or people responsible for the vandalism will be prosecuted.

"It will not be tolerated," she said. "This won't deter us from doing our work. We will continue to do what's right for the people that we serve."

Val Walton--The Birmingham News The Birmingham News

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/08/bir ... panic.html