September 28, 2011
Court’s Ruling Undermines Fundamental American Values
Decision Out-of-Step with Previous
Rebukes to State Anti-Immigrant Laws
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The federal court’s ruling today, in HICA et al. v Robert
Bentley, et al., blocked significant elements of the nation’s most extreme
anti-immigrant law but also left large parts in place, undermining the most
fundamental American values of fairness and equality and devastating thousands
across the state including citizens, lawful immigrants, and immigrants without
lawful status alike.
Despite the fact that courts
in other states have rebuked similar laws, today’s decision reaffirms the
state’s ability to authorize police to demand “papers” showing citizenship or
immigration status during traffic stops. The court also refused to block the
chilling affect the law will have on children’s access to public schools by
requiring school officials to verify the immigration status of children and
their parents.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC), National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
and the coalition of civil rights groups challenging the law have vowed to
appeal today’s decision.
“While the court has blocked some extremely problematic provisions from going
into effect, thereby allowing Alabamians to continue engaging in everyday
activities such as seeking employment and giving rides to neighbors, we are
deeply concerned by the decision to allow some unconstitutional provisions to
stand, “ said Andre Segura, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights
Project. “Laws that require police to demand ‘papers’ from people who they
suspect appear undocumented, encourage racial profiling, threaten public safety
and undermine American values have no place in our society.”
Olivia Turner, executive
director of the ACLU of Alabama, said: “While we are relieved that parts of
this harmful law are not going into effect, we are deeply troubled by the
provisions that have been allowed to stand, including the parts of the law that
will lead directly to law enforcement targeting people based on nothing other
than their race and ethnicity. Such racial profiling presents a great danger to
the fundamental principles of our Constitution and is an affront to the promise
of racial equality.”
“Today
is a dark day for
“The
"
“Given the breadth of this
decision, it promises to open a new and ugly chapter on race relations in the
“Although the Court did block
provisions discriminating against day laborers and immigrant college students,
the people of
“Today’s decision marks a
setback for civil rights in
“One bright spot in today's
largely outrageous decision was the judge's finding that the anti-day labor
provisions of HB 56 are likely unconstitutional. This finding represents the
second legal victory in as many weeks for day laborers who work under difficult
circumstances each day to feed their families, strengthen their communities,
and--as this decision shows--defend basic rights for us all,” said Pablo
Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
“The court's decision to enjoin the anti-solicitation provisions of HB 56 is a
victory for all who enjoy the freedom of speech guaranteed by the United States
Constitution. It serves as a reminder that yesterdays
"criminals" sometimes emerge as today's civil rights champions. We
all owe a debt of gratitude to day laborers- and to all immigrants in
The civil rights coalition
participating in this challenge include Mary Bauer, Sam Brooke, Andrew Turner,
Michelle Lapointe, Dan Werner, and Naomi Tsu of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Cecillia
D. Wang, Katherine Desormeau, Kenneth J. Sugarman, Andre Segura, Elora Mukherjee, Omar C. Jadwat, Lee Gelernt, Michael K. T. Tan of the American Civil Liberties
Union and Allison Neal and
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