Some relief for Alabamians! The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has blocked enforcement of parts of Alabama’s cruel immigration law.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the parts of Alabama’s immigration law that require proof of lawful residency in the U.S. and track immigration information about newly enrolled students.
The court did not block provisions dealing with immigration status checks during traffic stops, contracts with illegal immigrants or government business transactions.
But it’s not all good news. According to Marshall Fitz, Director of Immigration Policy at Center for American Progress (CAP), this means that police can still require people who are stopped and suspected of being undocumented to prove their status, and that it is still a crime for any undocumented immigrant to enter into any sort of business transaction with the government. From a call that was hosted earlier this week on Tuesday, Reverend Angie Wright of Greater Birmingham Ministries explained that the provision was most severe. From our blog post earlier this week:
She noted that in Alabama, it is now a Class C felony for any undocumented immigrant to do business or have any kind of contract with state government, meaning that undocumented immigrants can now face up to 10 years in prison or $15,000 in fines for applying for a car tag or water service.
Among the provisions temporarily blocked from being enforced are:
Section 10, requiring immigrants to carry an alien registration card;
Section 28, allowing public school students to be questioned about their immigration status.
Among selected provisions Alabama will be allowed to enforce are:
Section 30, blocking undocumented immigrants from entering into a “business transaction”;
Section 12, allowing local law enforcement to stop, detain or arrest upon reasonable suspicion anyone “unlawfully present” in the state
Stay tuned for more on this.
