The Department of Justice is sending every law enforcement agency in
Alabama a reminder letter. The missives, mailed out Friday, are
intended to warn local sheriffs and police chiefs to tread carefully
when enforcing a key provision of that state's controversial
immigration law. About 156 agencies in Alabama receive federal funding
that could be put in jeopardy if they are found to violate the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
Under the new state law, police are required to arrest anyone they
believe to be in the United States illegally. The law means police are
essentially checking the immigration status of anyone pulled over
during a routine traffic stop.
So far, that provision appears to be causing some serious headaches
for local and state officials. Last month, a Japanese employee on a
temporary assignment at a Honda plant was cited when he was stopped by
police at a routine roadblock even though the employee provided
officers with a valid international driver's license and his Japanese
passport. And a German executive with Mercedes-Benz was arrested after
a traffic stop. The man provided police with his German
identification. The man was later released after he was able to
provide authorities a copy of his passport and a driver's license.
It's little wonder that some local officials aren't happy with the new
rules. Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson told the Wall Street
Journal that he was worried that enforcing the new provision was
intruding on his agency's resources for something "that is really the
job of the federal government."
And the new state law is having other unintended consequences.
Alabama's revenue commissioner fired off a note instructing all county
officials to stop demanding proof of immigration status from drivers
wanting to renew car tags.
Alabama is now at the center of the debate over a state's right to
enforce immigration rules. It is considered to have the harshest laws
on the books even though the number of undocumented immigrants there
was estimated to be 120,000 in 2010, according to the Pew Hispanic
Center.
Stay tuned. The devastating impact of the law continues to reverberate
around the state. Farmers and growers are complaining of labor
shortages, while local businesses worry about the damage the measure
will do to the state's image and its ability to draw tourists.
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