Illinois congressman Luis Gutiérrez has always said that the fight for immigration reform is a civil-rights issue for the immigrant community in the United States. That community finds itself in dire straits in Alabama under its new law HB 56, which, even after a court ruling temporarily blocking...
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Despite the temporary stay of some provisions of Alabama law HB 56, fear persists in the state's immigrant community. The law's consequences continue to have palpable effects on thousands of families, including those of mixed immigration status—such as that of a young undocumented man we'll call Ramón.
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Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt deportations of immigrants without criminal records who have been detained under Alabama law HB 56 while the courts consider the Department of Justice's suit to declare the law unconstitutional.
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Oct 21, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Our African-American cab driver summed up Alabama law HB 56 better than any activist or public official: it's not an effective law from a humanitarian or economic standpoint, and with Alabama's ugly history in matters of race relations and civil rights, it's a shame that this...
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Oct 12, 2011
Pedro and his wife, both of whom are undocumented immigrants, decided to put all their belongings in the car and leave with their son for Arizona. Even with its SB 1070 immigration law, they expect Arizona to treat them better than Alabama under its law HB 56.
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For Alabama's immigrant families, yesterday's refusal by federal judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn to issue a temporary stay to state law HB 56 is like salt in the wound. Last night, undocumented parents, carrying their children, packed a Tarrant Elementary classroom for a "Know Your Rights" workshop on what to...
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The panic continues. Yesterday, federal judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn refused to stop enforcement of immigration law HB 56 while her decision to let the worst provisions of the law stand is appealed by the Department of Justice and civil rights groups.
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Alabama immigration law HB 56 hasn't just terrorized the state's undocumented immigrants. Their children, many of them native-born U.S. citizens, are also suffering the consequences of the state's torturous immigration politics.
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Oct 3, 2011
After a disappointing verdict that left some of the worst provisions of Alabama's immigration law HB 56 in effect, the federal government is finding itself ever more deeply entangled in a complicated legal thicket as it tries to figure out how to keep the list of states with their...
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During a "virtual roundtable" at the White House, President Obama answered direct questions on topics of interest to the Latino community. Immigration questions dominated the conversation.
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