Federal Judge Blocks 'Bama Immigration Law

[Jenne]

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/08/29/451543_ap.html?tkn=NXNFJCbqpoEvC3viIZ6fXiFb0UKXjBwI0Wgs&print=1
Published Online: August 30, 2011
Federal Judge Blocks Alabama Immigration Law
By The Associated Press



Birmingham, Ala.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of Alabama's new law cracking down on illegal immigration, ruling Monday that she needed more time to decide whether the law requiring schools to verify the citizenship status of students is constitutional.

The brief order by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn means the law—which opponents and supporters alike have called the toughest in the nation—won't take effect as scheduled on Thursday.

The ruling was cheered both by Republican leaders who were pleased the judge didn't gut the law and by opponents who compare it to old Jim Crow-era statutes against racial integration. The law is opposed by the Obama administration, church leaders, and immigrant-rights groups.

Blackburn didn't address whether the law is constitutional, and she could still let all or parts of the law take effect later. Instead, she said she needed more time to consider lawsuits filed by the Justice Department, private groups, including advocacy groups for English-language learners, and individuals that claim the state is overstepping its bounds.

Among other things, the Alabama law would require schools to verify the citizenship status of students.

It orders the Alabama Department of Education to send the state legislature a report each year spelling out the numbers of students in primary and secondary schools who are believed to be undocumented. That report must also analyze and itemize the cost to the state of providing instruction, computers, textbooks, meals, extracurricular activities, and other support to undocumented students.

The requirement for schools to determine the immigration status of students has made school officials uneasy and runs counter to the advice civil rights lawyers have given schools for years in consideration of the Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe, which is to not ask because it might provide a chilling effect on their seeking an education.

The U.S. Department of Education also reminded school districts this spring that they are obligated to enroll children regardless of immigration status. A letter from the department in May said schools may ask a U.S. birth certificates to determine whether the child meets age requirements for enrollment but can't refuse to enroll a child who doesn't have one.

State education officials have stressed that the new law wouldn't prevent illegal immigrants from attending public schools, but opponents say it will make many parents afraid to send their children to school anyway for fear they would be arrested or deported.

The law also would make it a crime to knowingly assist an illegal immigrant by providing them a ride, a job, a place to live or most anything else—a section that church leaders fear would hamper public assistance ministries. And it would allow police to jail suspected illegal immigrants during traffic stops.

Finding a way to curtail public spending that benefits illegal immigrants has been a pet project of Alabama conservatives for years. Census figures released earlier this year show the state's Hispanic population more than doubled over a decade to 185,602 last year, and supporters of the law contend many of them are in the country illegally.

The law, signed in June by Republican Gov. Robert Bentley, states: "The State of Alabama finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged when public agencies within this state provide public benefits without verifying immigration status."

Isabel Rubio, executive director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, which is among the groups that sued over the law, hopes Blackburn will block it entirely but was happy with the temporary reprieve.

"We are pleased that Judge Blackburn is taking more time to study the case," she said.


Bentley said he would continue to defend the law, and GOP leaders in the House and Senate praised Blackburn—a Republican appointee—for taking time to fully consider the law.

"We must remember that today's ruling is simply the first round in what promises to be a long judicial fight over Alabama's right to protect its borders," said House Majority Leader Micky Hammon of Decatur. "To put it in sports terms, it is the first half-inning of the first game of a seven-game World Series."

While the Obama administration contends the state law conflicts with federal immigration law, state Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, contends the federal government isn't doing its job enforcing immigration laws. Beason said that he spent years researching immigration law to help write the 70-plus page law, and that it's unrealistic to expect a judge to go through it all in a few days.

"You just can't do that," he said.

The judge said she will issue a longer ruling by Sept. 28, and her temporary order will remain in effect until the day after. She heard arguments from the Justice Department and others during a daylong hearing last week. Similar laws have been passed in Arizona, Utah, Indiana, and Georgia, however, federal judges have blocked all or parts of the laws in those states.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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[Adios]

Not holding my breath here.

[Cramulus]

Educated Immigrants are Ruining the Country!
                  /

[Adios]

Educated Immigrants are Ruining the Country!
                  /

Yes they are, they come out sooooooooo American! 

[Freeky]

Still and all, things could be worse.  I actually got a little bit more hopeful when I read that the judge had to read more before she could agree, in case it was unconstitutional, and also lawsuits that have been filed.  And when I say slightly more hopeful, I mean slightly less in the negatives.