All against illegal immigration:Alabama State passes stringent law

 Mahmud Khan Taser: An Anti-illegal immigration bill was made a law in the US state of Alabama on Thursday requiring schools to find out if students are in the country are lawfall immigrant. The law takes effect Sept. 1st. Alabama has an estimated 120,000 illegal immigrants, a nearly fivefold increase from a decade ago, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Many of them are believed to be working on farms, at chicken processing plants and in construction. Among other things, the law makes it a crime for landlords to knowingly rent to an illegal immigrant. Another provision makes it a crime to transport a known illegal immigrant. Arizona’s law appears narrower: It includes language against human smuggling and makes it illegal to pick up labourers for work if doing so impedes traffic. Alabama’s law also goes further in requiring schools to check the immigration status of their students. The measure does not prohibit illegal immigrants from attending public schools; lawmakers said the purpose instead is to gather data on how many are enrolled and how the much the state is spending to educate them. Advocacy groups promised to challenge the sweeping measure, which like allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if the person is stopped for some other reason. In addition, it requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers using a federal system called E-Verify. “It is clearly unconstitutional. It’s mean-spirited, racist, and we think a court will enjoin it,” said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Republican Gov. Robert Bentley, who signed it, expressed confidence it would withstand any legal challenges. “We have a real problem with illegal immigration in this country,” he said. “I campaigned for the toughest immigration laws, and I’m proud of the Legislature for working tirelessly to create the strongest immigration bill in the country.” The Alabama Business Council has not taken a public stand on the law but in neighbouring Georgia, some farmers and business owners warned that a crackdown passed recently in that state would make it more difficult to hire the labourers they rely on – many of whom are illegal immigrants. “It is a sweeping attack on immigrants and people of color in general. It adds restrictions on education, housing and other areas. It is a very broad attack,” Jared Shepherd, an attorney for the ACLU, warned that because of that provision, some immigrant parents may not send their children to school for fear of arrest or deportation. Activists such as Shay Farley, legal director of Alabama Appleseed, an immigrant advocacy group, said the bill invites racial profiling not only by law enforcement officers but by landlords and employers.