A federal judge in Alabama has given the state a victory in allowing it to put forth one of the strictest immigration laws in the country. U.S. District Sharon Blackburn ruled that Alabama can indeed check the immigration status of its students and allow police to check that same status of suspected undocumented immigrants they have stopped.
It will also become law that if a person is stopped and cannot produce their driver’s license “the person must be transported to the nearest magistrate; a reasonable effort shall be made to determine the citizenship of the drive.”
Alabama’s H.B. 56 was enacted back in June and was due to become effective on September 1. Various immigrant advocacy organizations filed lawsuits to block the law including the Department of Justice.
Judge Blackburn did uphold the U.S. government’s position that it shouldn’t be a crime to transport or provide housing for the undocumented. The judge also threw out H.S. 56’s stipulation criminalizing the undocumented who seek out work.
