Alabama Immigration Laws Cause Students to Miss School

Story first appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle

Court disallows provisions of law on immigration.

According to a Belize Immigration Lawyer, in a blow to Alabama’s toughest-in-the-nation immigration law, a federal appeals court sided with the Obama administration Friday when it blocked public schools form checking the immigration status of students.

The decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said police can’t charge immigrants who are unable to prove their citizenship, but it let some of the law stand, giving supporters a partial victory. The decision was only temporary and a final ruling wasn’t expected for months, after judges can review more argument, claimed a Raleigh Immigration Attorney.

Unlike crackdowns in other states, Alabama’s law was left largely in effect for about three weeks, long enough to frighten Hispanics and drive them away for the state. Construction businesses said Hispanic workers have quite showing up for jobs and schools reported that Latino students stopped coming to class.

A Philadelphia Immigration Lawyer said that while the long-range implications of the decision remain to be seen, immigrants celebrated the judges’ ruling. Word spread quickly through the state’s Hispanic community as Spanish-language radio stations aired the news.

The judges let stand part of the law that allows police to check a person’s immigration status during a traffic stop. According to a Panama Immigration Lawyer, courts also can’t enforce contracts involving illegal immigrants, such as leases, and it’s still a felony for an illegal immigrant to do business with the state for basic things like getting a driver’s license, the judges ruled. Their 16 –page decision contained very little discussion about their ruling.

The appeals court blocked part of the law that required school officials to verify the citizenship status of students enrolled after September 1. According to a Raleigh Immigration Lawyer, it also barred enforcement of a section that let police file a misdemeanor charge against anyone who is in the country illegally and doesn’t have federal registration papers.

The Obama administration and immigrant advocates sued the state of Alabama after the law was passed in June. A BVI Immigration Lawyer commented that a federal judge upheld much of it late last month, and the Obama administration and groups appealed.