Federal Appeals Court Blocks Alabama Immigration Law

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AppId is over the quota

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court on Friday blocked a key part of Alabama's law that requires schools to check the immigration status of students, temporarily weakening what was considered the toughest immigration law in the nation.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also blocked a part of the law that allows authorities to charge immigrants who do not carry documents proving their legal status. The three-judge panel let stand a provision that allows police to detain immigrants that are suspected of being in the country illegally.

The ruling was only temporary. A final decision on the law won't likely be made for months.

[Read why Hispanics are key to a victory in the 2012 presidential race.]

Groups who challenged the law said they were hopeful the judges would eventually block the rest of it.

"I think that certainly it's a better situation today for the people of Alabama today than it was yesterday," said Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the ACLU, which challenged the law along with the Obama administration. "Obviously we remain concerned about the remainder of the provisions, and we remain confident that we will eventually get the whole scheme blocked."

Supporters of the law also claimed a partial victory.

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who championed the law, said the "most effectual parts" of the law will remain in place.

"We've said from the beginning that Alabama will have a strict immigration law and we will enforce it. Alabama will not be a sanctuary state for illegal aliens, and this ruling reinforces that," he said.

The judges also let stand parts of the law that bar state courts from enforcing contracts involving illegal immigrants and make it a felony for an illegal immigrant to do business with the state for basic things like getting a driver's license.

Alabama Republicans have long sought to clamp down on illegal immigration and passed the law earlier this year after gaining control of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signed the measure, saying it was crucial to protect the jobs of legal residents amid the tough economy and high unemployment.

The law has already had a deep impact in Alabama since a federal judge upheld much of it in late September. Many frightened Hispanics have been driven away from Alabama, fearing they could be arrested or targeted by police. Construction workers, landscapers and field hands have stopped showing up for work, and large numbers of Hispanic students have been absent from public schools.

To cope with the labor shortage, Alabama agriculture commissioner John McMillan at one point suggested farmers should consider hiring inmates in the state's work-release program.

It's not clear exactly how many Hispanics have fled the state. Earlier this week, many skipped work to protest the law, shuttering or scaling back operations at chicken plants, Mexican restaurants and other businesses.

Immigration has become a hot-button issue in Alabama over the past decade as the Hispanic population has grown by 145 percent to about 185,600 people, most of them of Mexican origin. The Hispanic population represents about 4 percent of the state's 4.7 million people, but some counties in north Alabama have large Spanish-speaking communities and schools where most of the students are Hispanic.

[Read about Obama's four ways forward on immigration.]

Requiring school officials to check the immigration status of students in public schools helped make the Alabama law stricter than similar measures enacted in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. Federal judges in those states have blocked all or parts of those laws.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this year asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the legal fight over her state's tough immigration law.

The Justice Department called the Alabama law a "sweeping new state regime" in court filings last week and urged the appeals court to forbid states from creating a patchwork of immigration policies. The agency also said the law could strain diplomatic relations with Latin American countries, who have warned the law could impact millions of workers, tourists and students in the U.S.

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Appeals court blocks parts of Alabama immigration law

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AppId is over the quota

A U.S. flag is seen in Normal, Illinois March 30, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer

By Verna Gates

BIRMINGHAM, Ala | Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:25pm EDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked Alabama from enforcing part of its tough new immigration law but allowed some disputed portions to remain in effect.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, halted the controversial provision that permits Alabama to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children upon enrollment.

But the court ruled the state could continue to authorize police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

The Obama administration and a coalition of civil rights groups had sought to stop the law while it was under court review, arguing it has led some illegal immigrants in Alabama to pull their children out of school and even flee the state.

The Justice Department also contends the measure, passed by large margins in both chambers of the Republican-led legislature earlier this year, interferes with the federal government's exclusive authority over immigration.

State lawmakers argue they were forced to act, saying the Obama administration had not done enough to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.

There are an estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the United States, including between 75,000 and 160,000 in Alabama, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Under the ruling issued on Friday, Alabama can bar illegal immigrants from entering into commercial contracts with the state or local governments and applying for or renewing drivers' licenses, identification cards or license plates.

"Once again, we're pleased that the majority and most effectual parts of this law will remain in place," said Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, a Republican.

"While the federal government sues to prolong and exacerbate the illegal immigration problem, Alabama is taking action to ensure the laws of our land are upheld."

The Justice Department said it looked forward to the appeals court giving further consideration to its arguments for blocking other key provisions of the law.

"We are pleased that the Eleventh Circuit has blocked Alabama's registration provisions which criminalized unlawful presence and chilled access to a public education," the department said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Kelli Dugan in Mobile and James Vicini in Washington; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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Chamber of Commerce, Bloomberg Push Immigration Reform

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pushing what they see as a bipartisan way to create jobs and improve the nation's economic outlook: attract and keep highly skilled immigrant workers and entrepreneurs. In a forum Wednesday morning, Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue said many people assume immigrants take jobs, but they actually create them—and can contribute to United States competitiveness in the future. "If we don't keep the skilled people in this country after they are educated in our universities and our institutions," Donohue said, "companies have a simple choice: If we can't get them here and they go somewhere else, we send the work to where they are."

Bloomberg, in his keynote speech at the forum, added that increased government spending and budget cutting won't prevent a double-dip recession; only economic growth will. And skilled immigrants spur that growth, he said. "In today's global marketplace, we cannot afford to keep turning away those with skills that our country needs to grow and to succeed," Bloomberg said. "It is sabotaging our economy. I've called it national suicide, and I think it really is."

[Check out a roundup of political cartoons on immigration reform.]

Bloomberg sees the plan as political middle ground for Democrats and Republicans eyeing elections at a time when repeated attempts at immigration reform over the past decade have stagnated. He said it would not be a panacea, but would create jobs and strengthen the economy.

He counters the charge that an increase in skilled immigrants would mean fewer jobs for Americans. "There is no such thing as too many engineers, too many scientists, or too many technological innovators. We need all of them in this country," he said, adding that foreign-born experts in science, technology, engineering, and math fields can provide a way out of the unemployment ditch the United States. finds itself in.

First, Bloomberg said, the United States must expand the number of green cards available to "the best of the best" high-skilled workers. These workers can start businesses and provide valuable knowledge of foreign markets, he said.

Second, Bloomberg and the Chamber want an easy, clear path for foreign students earning advanced degrees in the United States to get green cards. "Turning students out of the country is, to put it bluntly, about the dumbest thing we could possibly do," Bloomberg said, complaining about the uncertain and arduous process in place now. "Other countries are bending over backwards to attract these students, and we're helping them to do it. We've become the laughingstock of the world with this policy."

Third would be a conditional visa program for entrepreneurs who have the capital to back their business plans, giving legal status to those whose businesses grow and create jobs for Americans. "America already has some of the most enterprising individuals on earth. But entrepreneurs are like engineering Ph.D.s and computer scientists," Bloomberg said. "You just can't have enough of them."

[Read: After 9/11, Immigration Became About Homeland Security.]

And finally, the fourth piece of the plan would be to proactively attract talented workers to the country. Bloomberg suggests one way to do this is to loosen up visa restrictions and caps, including the cap on the number of H-1B visas—those for highly-skilled workers—and the quotas for employment visas based on country. H-1B visas often run out before the end of the year, leaving tech companies struggling to hire engineers and other technical employees. This year, the Department of Homeland Security already had overwhelmingly more than enough applicants to fill its 65,000 cap by January. "This is just absurd to deny American companies access to the workers they need, Bloomberg said. "The government doesn't know how many skilled workers are needed each year. Only the market does. So let the markets work."

Other countries like China, Israel, and Chile are already working hard to attract intellectual capital and the financial capital that follows, he said, adding that this means the United States must compete more than ever before. "The global economy is changing everything. People and resources are moving more freely than ever before," Bloomberg said. "As a result, America no longer is the inevitable crossroads for enterprise and innovation."

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After 9/11, Immigration Became About Homeland Security

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The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Angela Maria Kelley remembers driving past the Pentagon on her way to an immigration policy meeting on Capitol Hill. She'd heard on NPR that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City, but like the rest of the nation at that point, Kelley had no idea about the magnitude of what was going on.

Kelley, then deputy director of the immigrant-rights organization National Immigration Forum, was on her way to meet with congressional staffers on putting together policies to reflect recent collaboration by President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox—the two leaders planned to work together on border security, anti-drug trafficking measures, and a path to legalization for undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the United States. Fox had addressed a joint session of Congress five days earlier, a symbol of the growing cooperation between the nations.

[Read more about immigration reform.]

Kelley recalls waiting in then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office reception area along with his staffers and aides from Sen. Ted Kennedy's and House Minority Leader Rep. Richard Gephardt's staffs, waiting to start the meeting.

But the news trickled in: A plane hit the Pentagon, another hit the second tower in New York, and an additional plane was missing. Capitol Police evacuated the building.

Kelley, now vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, says that immigration meeting was never rescheduled. "We just shifted topics," Kelley explains, to deal with tightening up nonimmigrant visas for students and businesses—the sort of visas the 9/11 terrorists had used. "It redirected the conversation with such ferociousness because of the completely understandable concerns in the wake of such a horrible tragedy," she says, explaining that the policy discussions were dominated by enforcement, pushing the previous priorities to the back burner. "But it took it into a space that made it difficult for a long time."

News that the hijackers had entered the country legally through the U.S. visa process—and that a few had overstayed visas and were in the country illegally—led to a string of laws to tighten the visa process and other restrictions on immigrants. The concept of immigration was suddenly viewed through the lens of "homeland security," a newly ubiquitous term, and the debate swung heavily toward enforcement and prevention, accompanied by a heightened rhetoric of fear.

[Read more about national security, terrorism, and the military.]

Latin Americans and National Security

Latin Americans had nothing to do with 9/11: The terrorists did not use the southwestern U.S. border, and all were from the Middle East. But since, according to Pew Hispanic Center, the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants come from Latin America and the largest group of U.S. foreign-born residents are from Mexico, when America's spotlight focused on immigration enforcement, that spotlight was shining on them.

Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it seemed likely a path to legal status was in the cards for Mexicans in the country illegally. Just five years earlier, in 1997, the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act gave a way for some illegal immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, and Guatemala to gain permanent resident status. In 1998, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act did the same for Haitians. Opponents, who called these actions "amnesties," were already working to build opposition, but for those advocating a pathway to citizenship, hopes were high.

For Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, which advocates limiting immigration overall, this new focus on enforcement was a relief since it changed a growing pattern of legalization legislation. "There have been zero amnesties passed since 9/11," he says. "It may be that 9/11 did change the environment so that it became harder for Congress to continue to pass an amnesty every couple years."

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Perry takes fire on immigration at debate

ORLANDO, Florida | Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:50am EDT
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry took heavy fire from his rivals over a Texas policy that aids illegal immigrants at a presidential debate on Thursday where he struggled to protect his front-running position.
Texas Governor Perry attempted to change the narrative from two previous debates, where he came under fierce attack from former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and other candidates.
But his competitors accused Perry of coddling illegal immigrants with a Texas policy to allow their children to gain education tuition assistance.
"I would not allow taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens or for their children," said Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. "That's a magnet. End the magnets for illegal aliens to come into the United States of America."
Other candidates took shots at Tea Party movement favorite Perry over illegal immigration, one of the few issues where he belies his reputation as a staunch conservative.
Perry is ahead in polls of Republicans but his lead is fragile over Romney, who is the choice of many mainstream Republicans. A USA Today/Gallup poll on Wednesday found Perry leading Romney 31 percent to 24 percent among likely Republican voters.
No knockout blows were struck at the debate, and Perry again appeared to flag as the two-hour gathering wore on. A focus group of voters assembled by a debate host, Fox News Channel, declared Romney the winner.
Perry revived old charges that Romney has flip-flopped on key issues from healthcare to education.
"I think Americans just don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with." Perry said. "We'll wait until tomorrow and see which Mitt Romney we're really talking to tonight."
Illegal immigration is a politically charged issue for Republicans, with conservatives wanting stern measures to deal with America's estimated 11 million illegals. Senator John McCain's support for a reform plan in 2007 nearly ended his 2008 presidential bid.
DEFENDS TEXAS PROGRAM
Perry said that as governor of a state with a long border with Mexico, no one had worked harder than he has on border security. He fiercely defended the program as correct for his state, saying to do nothing would leave the immigrant children as a burden.
To those who oppose it, he said, "I don't think you have a heart. We need to be educating these children because they will be a drag on our society."
Republicans increasingly see a good chance to oust Obama from the White House with the U.S. economy struggling to rebound from 9.1 percent unemployment and chronic debt and deficits.
On a day the stock market plunged on fears of renewed recession, the U.S. economy was the top topic and all the candidates promised conservative prescriptions of low taxation and limited regulation to fix it.
The Republicans declared Obama's economic leadership a failure, a point that lesser-known candidate Gary Johnson underscored with a jab that drew guffaws from the audience.
"My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this administration," the former New Mexico governor said during his first debate appearance.
Perry again was forced to defend a Texas policy he ordered to vaccinate adolescent girls against sexually transmitted diseases, but this time he had an answer that attempted to tug at voter heartstrings.
"I got lobbied on this issue. I got lobbied by a 31-year-old young lady who had stage 4 cervical cancer ... And the fact is I erred on the side of life and I will always err on the side of life as a governor and as the president of the United States," he said.
Perry got in plenty of shots at Romney, accusing the former Massachusetts governor of backing an Obama administration education reform known as Race to the Top, and favoring the White House's healthcare reforms.
But Romney managed deft counterpunches and took a high-minded position by declaring Republican candidates may bicker over issues but are united in their goal. He would not repeat a comment he had made in an earlier interview that Perry was not electable.
"Governor Perry and I disagree on some issues," he said. "But one thing's for sure, we all agree that President Obama needs to be former President Obama and we're going to make that happen."
(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon in Orlando and JoAnne Allen in Washington; editing by Alistair Bell and Vicki Allen)

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