Alabama:Illegal immigration bill making its way through State Legislature
 

Illegal immigration bill making its way through State Legislature
Alabama legislators are pushing illegal immigration bills through the Senate and House of Rep re sentatives with more confidence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Arizona’s widely debated immigration law as constitutional on Thursday.
Rep. Kerry Rich (R-Albertville) called the ruling “wonderful” and “big time news.”
“Our law covers a lot more than the Arizona law,” he said. “It’s more comprehensive, but to hear that the Arizona law is covered is fantastic.”
Rich is one of three House members serving on a conference committee to iron out differences in the Alabama immigration bill.
“We’ve done a lot of work on it this week, and hopefully well finish it today and have ready for next Tuesday,” he said Thursday morning.
The biggest debate among House and Senate members is over a provision in the bill that requires employers to use the E-Verify system for new employees, Rich said.
He said the House bill required all Alabama employers to use E-Verify, but the Senate amended it so only those who do business with the state must use the system. Although Rich did not disclose details about the committee’s solution, he said, “I believe we’ll fix that provision, and we’ll go much more into what (the House) bill says.”
Rich is also working to get other bills dealing with illegal immigration passed, including one that allows law enforcement to arrest and charge someone if it appears they were driving without a valid driver’s license.
This is opposed to the current law, which requires an officer to physically see a person driving the car before they can charge the resident.
“Right now, if someone hits someone, they may have been seen driving by 10 different people,” Rich said. “But they will get out and leave the scene of the vehicle because they know that if the officer didn’t see them, they can’t be charged. This bill changes it to where you look at the totality of the circumstances.”
The bill passed the House on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate.
“I think we’ve got a good chance of getting it passed,” he said.
Outside of illegal immigration, Rich helped pass a line item in the budget that would designate $100,000 for the Alabama Aviation Center at Albertville.
“I want to thank speaker Mike Hubbard for helping me get that passed and Senator Clay Scofield for making sure it stayed in there in the Senate,” he said. “This helps the school and makes sure they have the revenues they need to operate.”
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