Alabama House passes Arizona-style immigration bill

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Alabama House passes Arizona-style immigration bill
MONTGOMERY | The Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a tough illegal immigrant bill patterned after a similar law in Arizona.
The bill will now go to the state Senate.
Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, has been trying for seven years to pass a bill that would allow police officers to check the status of illegal immigrants. With Democrats in the Legislature's majority until this year, his bill was ignored in the past.
'We've let this go on too long,' Hammon said of illegal immigration. 'Our budget cannot handle it. Our justice system cannot handle all the crimes. We want them to stop taking advantage of our public benefits.'
Debate lasted nearly six hours until Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, asked for a vote to cut off debate on Hammon's bill.
The bill passed 73-28 largely along party lines, but some Democrats joined the majority Republicans in approving the bill.
'This completes the ‘Handshake with Alabama,' ' said House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn. The 'Handshake' is the GOP's agenda for the 2011 legislative session.
In the Tuscaloosa County delegation, voting for the bill were Reps. Richard Baughn, R-Lynn, Daniel Boman, R- Sulligent, Alan Harper, D-Aliceville, John Merrill, R-Tuscaloosa, and Bill Poole, R-Northport. Voting against the bill were Reps. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, and A.J. McCampbell, D-Gallion and Rep. Ralph Howard, D-Greensboro.
England said the bill is unconstitutional.
'It has unintended consequences and it's an unfunded mandate and is virtually unenforceable,' England said. 'When we leave here, this will be subject to a lawsuit.'
Poole was successful in amending the bill to protect foreign workers, tourists such as Canadian snowbirds who vacation in Gulf Shores, and foreign students at Alabama universities.
'I believe it's important to our employees and to our state as a whole to protect the jobs in our state,' Poole said.
Merrill said immigration laws need to be toughened.
'Obviously, immigration laws aren't nearly as tight as they need to be,' Merrill said. 'We need to better take care of people who are living here and who desire to live here legally. I want everyone to come, but I want everyone to come the right way.'
Rep. Joe Hubbard, D-Montgomery, who is an attorney, said the bill would create a legal mess.
'This is a job security bill for lawyers,' Hubbard said.
The bill would allow police to arrest anyone who can't prove they are in the United States legally. Violators would be charged with trespassing.
'This will slow illegal immigration,' Hammon said.
Hammon's bill would also:
-- Give local law enforcement agencies the authority to verify the residency status of those who are detained.
-- Require business owners to scrutinize new hires with an electronic verification system.
-- Require that taxpayer- funded public services be given only to legal U.S. residents.
'We cannot allow Alabama to become a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants,' Hammon said.
He said he accepted amendments to strengthen the bill 'as long as an amendment stays within intention of the bill.'
One amendment by Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana, removed language that would exempt a general contractor from its provisions if he or she did not know of or intentionally contract with an illegal immigrant.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...ws02?p=2&tc=pg

Alabama’s State House Passes Arizona-like Anti-Immigration Law
Late last night the Alabama State House of Representatives in a 73-28 vote passed an anti-immigration law that will allow police officers to hold people suspected of being in the country illegally.
If there is ‘reasonable suspicion’ that someone is here illegally an Alabama police officer can demand proof of citizenship and while waiting for proof someone can be detained in jail. In addition it would be a crime to provide housing, rent to, give a car ride to or employ an illegal immigrant.
The bill sponsor Republican Representative Micky Harmon is hoping illegal immigrants will ‘deport themselves’ if this bill becomes law. The bill now goes to the Alabama Senate.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that the number of unauthorized immigrants in Alabama have doubled since 2005 to 120,000.
Opponents of the measure sounded off with the same concerns as Arizona’s opponents of SB-1070: What constitutes ‘reasonable suspicion’ and fear of racial profiling. Racial profiling is an especially sensitive topic in this state that has a long history of civil rights violations.
http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews....tion-law/6694/