Washington, D.C. — CAP immigration policy and legal experts are available to provide analysis and commentary on today’s decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily block part of Alabama’s anti-immigrant law, H.B. 56.
Below is a statement from Angela M. Kelley, Vice President of Immigration Policy and Advocacy, on today’s decision:
Today’s ruling by the 11th Circuit takes a partial step in ameliorating the harm of the ill-conceived Alabama immigration law. It enjoined the provisions that essentially made it a crime to be undocumented and the provision that required schools to ask their students for immigration papers. The court left intact much of the law, including the provision that requires police to verify the immigration status of people they stop and “suspect” are in the state illegally.
The court upheld the provision making it a felony for undocumented immigrants to contract with any governmental entity. Among other things, that means it is a felony for undocumented immigrants to get running water in their house or apartment.
The court also allowed the provision to remain that prevents undocumented immigrants from enforcing virtually all contracts, effectively permitting the wholesale exploitation of undocumented individuals.
The court’s ruling will not likely allay the fears of the immigrant and Latino communities in Alabama, nor lessen the economic impact the state is feeling as immigrant workers are going into hiding or leaving the state. The law is a loser for a state with a fragile economy and takes the state backward in time with its hostile treatment of certain communities.
The following CAP experts will be available for comment:
Additional Resources:
Please contact Raúl Arce-Contreras at [email protected] or 202.478.5318 to schedule interviews.
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