tags: , , , , , Blog

"Tweak" Bill Reinforces Rather than Repeals the Ugliness of Alabama's Anti-Immigrant Law

Share This:

alabamaYesterday, the backers of Alabama’s “show me your papers” anti-immigrant law introduced new legislation to tweak, but not repeal HB56.  The following is a reaction to the new bill from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

The underlying premise of the Alabama immigration law remains the same: to purge the state of its undocumented immigrant population and use racial profiling and discrimination against citizens and legal immigrants to pursue its goal of mass expulsion.  As a result, the only state in the nation where the nativist strategy of ‘attrition through enforcement’ is in effect is in the midst of a civil rights, humanitarian and economic crisis that recalls the ugly days of Jim Crow. 

As former Arizona state senator Russell Pearce confirmed yesterday, the Alabama and Arizona anti-immigration laws are the same as the ‘self-deportation’ policy embraced by Mitt Romney.  The GOP cannot stand for the mass expulsion of millions of Latinos and their family members, and all the chaos and consequences that result from this ugly strategy, and still compete for a sizable share of the Latino vote.