Calling it the 'harshest of the Arizona copycat' laws, coalition files motion to block Ala.'s HB 56

“HB 56 seeks to drive all immigrants out of Alabama. The courts need to send a strong message that it is not permissible under the law.”

-- Sin Yen Ling, senior staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus

“This law is not only anti-immigrant, it is anti-American. It will criminalize Alabamians for everyday interactions with people who are here without documents, such as driving someone to the grocery store or to church, and law enforcement officers will be required to violate the constitutional rights of citizens and non-citizens alike.”

-- Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama

“By creating this law, which impacts not just undocumented immigrants but citizens and legal immigrants who might look ‘foreign’ or speak with an accent, Alabama makes all communities less safe.”

-- Erin Oshiro, senior staff attorney at the Asian American Justice Center

“Alabama has declared war on immigrants, primarily Latino immigrants. Every Latino in Alabama, regardless of status, is at risk.”

-- Juan Cartagena of LatinoJustice PRLDEF

“Not only is Alabama’s law blatantly unconstitutional, it flies in the face of American values by authorizing racial profiling, deterring children from going to school, and criminalizing those who lend a hand to individuals deemed by the state of Alabama to be ‘illegal.’”

-- Andre Segura, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project

MONTGOMERY, ALA. ― The National Immigration Law Center and a coalition of other civil rights groups filed a motion July 21 asking a federal judge to block Alabama’s anti-immigrant law from taking effect Sept. 1.

The motion for preliminary injunction, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, follows a federal lawsuit the groups filed earlier this month that charged the law is unconstitutional on multiple grounds. Alabama’s law, which affects myriad aspects of daily life for countless Alabamians, is even more restrictive than Arizona’s infamous SB 1070, which has been blocked by the courts.

“This law flies in the face of the core rights and liberties our Constitution was designed to preserve,” said Linton Joaquin, general counsel of the National Immigration Law Center, “Alabamians, like all Americans, deserve better than to saddle local teachers, law enforcement officers, and business people with the additional responsibility of asking children, customers, and community members for their ‘papers.’ We are hopeful that the court will block this discriminatory and unconstitutional law before it takes effect and causes irreparable harms for countless Alabamians.”

The Alabama law was signed into law in June by Gov. Robert Bentley and is the harshest of the Arizona copycat state laws.

The lawsuit charges that HB 56:

• Chills children’s access to public schools by requiring school officials to verify the immigration status of children and their parents.

• Authorizes police to demand “papers” demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during traffic stops and criminalizes Alabamians for ordinary interactions with undocumented individuals.

• Unconstitutionally interferes with federal authority over immigration matters ― a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It also subjects Alabamians ― including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents ― to unlawful search and seizure, a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Alabama is one of six states that have enacted a law emulating Arizona’s controversial SB 1070. Federal courts have been unanimous in blocking similar provisions in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. The coalition has also vowed to challenge South Carolina’s anti-immigrant law.

“This law so undermines our core American values of fairness and equality that it is essential this be weighed before the law is allowed to go into effect,” said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). “When the Speaker of the House, who championed this law and guided it to passage, is acknowledging it has problems, it is clear we have a serious issue.”

The motion for and memorandum in support of preliminary injunction is available at http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/LocalLaw/HICA-v-Bentley-PImotion-2011-07-21.pdf

House Bill 934 heads to State Senate

This just in from the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition:

"After state House leaders used a procedural tactic to shut down debate, the House voted 108-88 in favor of House Bill 934, legislation that would force citizens to show valid state-issued photo ID every time they attempt to vote. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has used the same rhetoric that characterizes his AZ copycat legislation to justify this bill, which would really impact the most vulnerable citizens of our Commonwealth. Pennsylvanians who don't hold a valid state-issued photo ID will be disenfranchised-- disproportionately senior citizens, people with disabilities, the poor, students & young adults, and mass transit users who don't need a drivers license."

The bill is expected to be considered by the State Senate this fall.

Take action NOW to oppose E-Verify

From Justice for Immigrants:

Some in Congress are now calling for the mandatory expansion of E-Verify – a largely voluntary program which allows employers to electronically verify workers’ employment eligibility with Government databases. Only 250,000 some employers use the system today; some in Congress want to make its use mandatory by all 6 million U.S. employers.

The problem is that unless E-Verify's expansion is undertaken in the context of comprehensive immigration reform, it will hurt U.S. workers and our already weakened economy. Unless Congress legalizes unauthorized immigrants, mandatory E-Verify will begin with a handicap of 8 million unauthorized workers who will be driven further into the underground economy, hurting both the U.S. economy and workers by decreasing federal tax revenue by more than $17.3 billion over ten years, creating an unequal workplace, and lowering labor standards for all workers.

And, because of well-documented flaws in the government databases upon which it relies, E-Verify does not detect over half of the undocumented workers entered in the system, yet results in false positives for hundreds of thousands of American workers.

For these reasons, we urge you to let your senators and representatives know that unless and until the E-Verify program is improved and undertaken in the context of comprehensive immigration reform, you oppose its expansion and mandatory implementation.

Take Action NOW: Contact your Senators and Representative by e-mail, phone, FAX or U.S. Mail:

• Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121
• Or go to the Justice for Immigrants web site here, and send an e-mail to your representatives automatically.

Parishioner of St. Katharine Drexel in Chester slated for deportation

Zulma Villatoro was brought to the US from Guatemala in 1998 at the age of 14 by her mother and stepfather, who have obtained permanent residency. The St. Katharine Drexel parishioner is the mother of a 4-year-old Reina (from whom she'd be permanently separated by the deportation) and is expecting a second child.

Unfortunately, Zulma's lawyer made errors that caused her petition to be rejected. She has been engaged in a legal struggle for years and is facing deportation July 2.

Please sign this petition urging Senator Casey, Representative Brady, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, John Morton, and Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano to stop the deportation.

There will be a vigil for Zulma at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 7 in front of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Please join us there to pray and petition that this young family not be split up, and that Zulma not be deported to Guatemala -- a country where violence against women and girls has become epidemic according to recent U.N. Human Rights Council reports.