Original Author BOB JOHNSON, Associated Press
This report has been modified to remove politically correct terminology & misleadings
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A coalition of Illegal Alien Activist groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block Alabama's Much Needed and Very Necessary new illegal immigration laws from taking effect Sept. 1.
The request was filed in federal court in Huntsville by the same Illegal Alien Advocate groups that have already sued over the law, which opponents and supporters say is the most effective of its kind in the nation.
Federal courts have blocked all or parts of similar laws passed in four other states. Alabama's law allows police to detain people they suspect of being illegal aliens after a traffic stop, requires schools to report the immigration status of students, and makes it illegal to knowingly transport or give shelter to illegal aliens.
The motion filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and other illegal alien advocate groups rant that the law is blatantly unconstitutional and asks a judge to stop it before it harms illegal alien Alabama residents. An attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Sam Brooke, said the motion seeks to stop any illegal immigration enforcement: until the courts have issued a final ruling on the lawsuit. Basically, they are saying: they want to stop any immigration enforcement until they can kill the bill through the court system.
Meanwhile, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has filed a motion claiming the original lawsuit is vague, repetitive and does not give a legal reason for why the new law should be thrown out.
Strange's motion asks U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn to order the plaintiffs to rewrite the original lawsuit and provide a clearer explanation of what's wrong with the law.
Strange's motion challenges one statement in the original lawsuit that compared the new immigration law to "the worst aspects of Alabama's history," referring to the state's segregationist past. The illegal Activist groups compare the wrongful treatment of legal Black American Citizens, people who have every right to be in the country; to illegal aliens who have Absolutely No Right to be in the country. Strange's motion calls that language "impertinent and scandalous" and asks that it be removed from the lawsuit.
Republican House Speaker Mike Hubbard said the lawsuit would not undo the immigration law and Alabama would not become a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.
"If the court finds problems with parts of the law, tweaks can be made," Hubbard said. "Alabama will have a strict immigration law, and we will enforce it."
Supporters of the new law have argued that it only involves the activities of illegal immigrants and that anyone who is in the country legally or who is a U.S. citizen should not be concerned.
But Brooke said the new law involves average Alabama citizens in immigration decisions by making it illegal for them to enter into a contract with or even give a ride to the store to an illegal immigrant. Brooke's objection are also completely ridiculous, as it makes sense not to enter into a contract with, or give a ride to someone who has No Right being in the country in the first place.
"You as a private citizen have no way of knowing what the immigration status is of a person," Brooke said. Illegal Alien Activist Brooke reaching for every phony argument possible to stop illegal immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit claims that it's the federal government's duty to enforce immigration law and that Alabama's law encroaches on that authority. These individuals bringing these lawsuits know if they can take all power of immigration enforcement from the states; that the immigration laws will not be enforced. The Feds have no intention to enforce immigration laws.
But Senate president pro tem Republican Sen. Del Marsh of Anniston said Alabama officials have tired of waiting for the Pro illegal alien activist leaders in the federal government to act.
"While the federal government has consistently Refused to enforce immigration law, promoted policies encouraging illegal immigration, brought law suits to stop enforcement of immigration laws, and they have always looked the other way on this issue. The Alabama's illegal alien population has exploded nearly 400 percent over the last decade," Marsh said. With Alabama's unemployment rate over 9 percent, Marsh said it's important to make sure state residents aren't being passed over for jobs in favor of those who have no legal right to be in our country.
State Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, House sponsor of the bill, said it is already having the effect supporters had hoped by forcing illegal aliens in the country to leave the state.
"These far-left, liberal groups have filed an injunction because those who live here illegally and break our laws with their simple presence are packing up and leaving Alabama. That was the intent of the bill in the first place - to protect our borders and our jobs," Hammon said.