Alabama's "toughest immigration law in the U.S." set to take effect

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - Civil rights groups on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging Alabama's new immigration law, described as the toughest in the nation by both critics and supporters.

The lawsuit says Alabama's law will subject both citizens and non-citizens to "criminal penalties and incarceration for innocent daily activities, such as giving a ride to a neighbor, hiring a day laborer, or renting a room to a friend."

The suit also says the law will deter children in immigrant families from enrolling in public schools. Alabama's law is unique in requiring public schools to determine, by review of birth certificates or sworn affidavits, the legal residency status of students upon enrollment.

Republican Governor Robert Bentley signed the crackdown into law in June, and it is set to take effect September 1.

Alabama joins Georgia, Arizona, Utah and Indiana in defending new immigration laws in federal court. Judges have blocked key parts of laws passed in those states.

"Alabama has brazenly enacted this law despite the clear writing on the wall: Federal courts have stopped each and every one of these discriminatory laws from going into effect," said Cecillia Wang, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project.

The coalition filing the class action lawsuit includes the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU of Alabama, National Immigration Law Center, Asian Law Caucus and Asian American Justice Center.

The legal challenge did not come as a surprise, and one of the law's sponsors said on Friday he is confident the Alabama law will hold up in court.

"It is important to note that our law seeks to protect immigrants who reside here legally while affecting only those who break our laws with their simple presence," said House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, a Republican from Decatur.

"We cannot turn a blind eye toward those who thumb their noses at our borders and our laws," he said in a statement.

Under the Alabama law, police must detain someone they suspect of being in the country illegally if the person cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

It also would be a crime to knowingly transport or harbor someone who is in the country illegally. The law imposes penalties on businesses that knowingly employ someone without legal resident status. A company's business license could be suspended or revoked.

The law requires businesses to use a database called E-Verify to confirm the immigration status of new employees.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)

[the last donut of the night]

Disgusting. Kill the bill*






*and preferably those that wrote it too

[danyboy27]

sound like the nuremberg laws.

[Pretty Flaco]

"Excuse me sir, your skin is darker than my brown uniform, can I see your papers?"

[Obs]

"Excuse me sir, your skin is darker than my white hood, can I see your papers?"
fix'd

[bcbm]

alabama is probably just mad nobody wants to go there, so it passed a bill saying "well we don't want you to come anyway" to feel better about itself

[danyboy27]

what is funny is that. even the capitalist in alabama will suffer greatly from this law.

Big corporate farmers will have no more brown peoples to collect their fruits and vegetables.

and time is running out, if they dont get some manpower soon, they will loose thousand, perhaps million of dollars worth of food, it will be rotting in the field.

[MarxSchmarx]

"Excuse me sir, your skin is darker than my brown uniform, can I see your papers?"

Quite a bit OT, but I always found the "papers please" meme silly at best and xenophobic at worst.

The fact is, in the English speaking world the same question is asked routinely by the police. For example when one is stopped at a traffic stop, there is the ubiquitous "license and registration please" in America, which is basically the same thing as "papers please" or even if you are asked an "an ID" the same question is there. But some how because "papers" was how English speakers chose to translate the same question from other languages (esp. German and Russian) rather than the more colloquial "do you have a photo ID", the phrase "your papers" came to be associated with nefarious FOREIGN practices. This was always somewhat ironic to me because it is the ENglish speaking countries which, among the liberal democracies, generally have the most repressive monitoring of their own people and treat foreigners the worst.

[Tim Finnegan]

Quite a bit OT, but I always found the "papers please" meme silly at best and xenophobic at worst.

The fact is, in the English speaking world the same question is asked routinely by the police. For example when one is stopped at a traffic stop, there is the ubiquitous "license and registration please" in America, which is basically the same thing as "papers please" or even if you are asked an "an ID" the same question is there. But some how because "papers" was how English speakers chose to translate the same question from other languages (esp. German and Russian) rather than the more colloquial "do you have a photo ID", the phrase "your papers" came to be associated with nefarious FOREIGN practices. This was always somewhat ironic to me because it is the ENglish speaking countries which, among the liberal democracies, generally have the most repressive monitoring of their own people and treat foreigners the worst.
I've never noticed that connection before. Something to think about. http://www.racunalniske-novice.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/SmileyHmm.gif

[Agnapostate]

"Papers" is associated with legal residency or citizenship documents here.

[Ocean Seal]

what is funny is that. even the capitalist in alabama will suffer greatly from this law.

Big corporate farmers will have no more brown peoples to collect their fruits and vegetables.

and time is running out, if they dont get some manpower soon, they will loose thousand, perhaps million of dollars worth of food, it will be rotting in the field.
The only difference being that when big capitalists are involved, law enforcement tends not to give a flying fuck what they're doing illegally.

[Martin Blank]

Quite a bit OT, but I always found the "papers please" meme silly at best and xenophobic at worst.

It comes from all those movies made during and after the Second World War about the Nazis or set in Nazi-occupied areas. From Casablanca to Schindler's List, there is at least one moment in these movies where an actor in a Nazi uniform demands some other actor's papers (sometimes saying "please"; sometimes not). It was used in some Cold War films, but the metaphor and image came directly from films like Casablanca.

[Rocky Rococo]

what is funny is that. even the capitalist in alabama will suffer greatly from this law.

Big corporate farmers will have no more brown peoples to collect their fruits and vegetables.

and time is running out, if they dont get some manpower soon, they will loose thousand, perhaps million of dollars worth of food, it will be rotting in the field.

Yes, this has already been an absolute disaster for this season's fruit and vegetable crops in Georgia, with total losses to food rotting in the fields with no one to pick it running as high as a billion dollars. And this has national consequences as well, heavily Georgia-centric crops such as those peaches that do get picked will carry considerably higher consumer price tags because supplies will be so much smaller.

You'd think the 'Bamans would have looked next door and seen what's happening there, but I guess the hoods get in the way of seeing anything other than what they want to see.

[MarxSchmarx]

You'd think the 'Bamans would have looked next door and seen what's happening there, but I guess the hoods get in the way of seeing anything other than what they want to see.

OK, I'll bite. What do you mean by "the hoods"? It wounldn't happen to be geographical aggregations of Amricans of African descent http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20hood, would it?

[Os Cangaceiros]

He's talking about hoods of the white pointy variety.

[KurtFF8]

what is funny is that. even the capitalist in alabama will suffer greatly from this law.

Big corporate farmers will have no more brown peoples to collect their fruits and vegetables.

and time is running out, if they dont get some manpower soon, they will loose thousand, perhaps million of dollars worth of food, it will be rotting in the field.

This is essentially what happened in AZ:

es3hq0XM-cw

[Principia Ethica]

Fucking geniuses :laugh::laugh:

The guy who drafted it says: "I don't want them to get no citizenship, I don't want them bringing their families, I don't want them having babies, I don't want them to breathe my air, I don't want them farting, I don't want them to look at me, I don't want them gettin' no health care and after they pick all our cotton, they need to take their asses back to mexico."

What a total jerk.

[Obs]

That'd be pretty funny if racism didn't enrage me so fucking much.

[danyboy27]

The only difference being that when big capitalists are involved, law enforcement tends not to give a flying fuck what they're doing illegally.


laws enforcements might have a bias against the rich, but lets face it, there are stuff they cant blatantly do, like for exemple hiring hundred of illegal immigrants under the nose of the cops who are now invested in a S.S like mission to chase the immigrants. bureaucrats are, well bureaucrats.

[Red And Black Sabot]

what is funny is that. even the capitalist in alabama will suffer greatly from this law.

Big corporate farmers will have no more brown peoples to collect their fruits and vegetables.

and time is running out, if they dont get some manpower soon, they will loose thousand, perhaps million of dollars worth of food, it will be rotting in the field.

This same sort of law just passed here in GA. They started using prisoners and parolees and unemployed ex cons but most of them have either been refusing the jobs out right or quitting only after a few hours or a few days.

[praxis1966]

You'd think the 'Bamans would have looked next door and seen what's happening there, but I guess the hoods get in the way of seeing anything other than what they want to see.

First of all, having grown up in the western Florida Panhandle, I can pretty much say that you're giving the bulk of 'Bamans too much damned credit if you think they're capable of looking much further at anything than past the end of their own noses. Further, look to Georgia? As somebody who worked as a bouncer in Florida nightclubs, I can say this for certain: If two spring breakers, one from Georgia and the other from Alabama, are within a mile of each other they'll locate one another and get in a fistfight. I dunno what it is about you guys, but there's a lot of animosity there.

Anyway, nobody ever said that conservatism, especially Southern Conservatism, was based in rationality. They'll try telling you segregation doesn't exist anymore, but just take a walk around any town larger than about 20,000 anywhere in the South. I guarantee you they're still segregated.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

They'll try telling you segregation doesn't exist anymore, but just take a walk around any town larger than about 20,000 anywhere in the South. I guarantee you they're still segregated.

That's hardly limited to the south.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H6XW_a4TYus/SZpdkUCscnI/AAAAAAAAARg/K35ihs_R2I8/s400/nyc%2Bblack%2Bpop%2Bmap.bmp

[praxis1966]

That's hardly limited to the south.

Very true. I can honestly say I never saw a fully integrated neighborhood most anyplace on the East Coast. Boston's the same way as New York only in slightly smaller numbers. If anything, New York's gotten progressively worse because of gentrification.

[Tablo]

People in Birmingham have been organizing. We had a candlelight vigil downtown and stuff. We aren't going to take this shit.

[black magick hustla]

That's hardly limited to the south.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H6XW_a4TYus/SZpdkUCscnI/AAAAAAAAARg/K35ihs_R2I8/s400/nyc%2Bblack%2Bpop%2Bmap.bmp

in my experience, northern "liberal" strongholds are more segregated than the south. southern white folk might go off cursing on black people but at the very least they leave beside them.

[Decolonize The Left]

alabama is probably just mad nobody wants to go there, so it passed a bill saying "well we don't want you to come anyway" to feel better about itself

When I read the thread title I immediately thought: "Who the fuck wants to go to Alabama?"

Exactly.

- August

[praxis1966]

When I read the thread title I immediately thought: "Who the fuck wants to go to Alabama?"

Migrant farm workers. They can't force African-Americans to do it for free anymore so they get a bunch of undocumented workers that they can pay less than minimum wage for fear of deportation to do it.

EDIT: Before anybody thinks I'm joking, take a look at the history. The sharecropping system, an obvious outgrowth of slavery, existed pretty much up until World War II when African-American men were drafted into the military. That's when the bracero program started, which officially existed in the West but as an unofficial policy quickly spread to other regions regardless of sanction. It's been going on ever since. Anyway, in fairness to 'Bama, Mississippi is by far the worst state to live in regarding racism and overall oppression in the region.

[Tablo]

Damn, all you guys hating on Alabama. I bet most of you have never set foot in the state.

[praxis1966]

Damn, all you guys hating on Alabama. I bet most of you have never set foot in the state.

I have. Many times. My parents did their graduate work at Auburn when I was like 1-3 years old. If it makes you feel any better, I have just as much loathing for most of Florida and I'm from there.

[The Douche]

We had a candlelight vigil downtown and stuff. We aren't going to take this shit.

Lolwut?

[Robocommie]

Not trying to make fun of 'Bamans like Tsukae, but at this rate the Alabama economy is going to get so bad that we here on this forum will literally be able to afford to simply buy the state and then implement socialism

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Not trying to make fun of 'Bamans like Tsukae, but at this rate the Alabama economy is going to get so bad that we here on this forum will literally be able to afford to simply buy the state and then implement socialism

But, sir, that would be socialism in one state! Surely that cannot be productive!

[Jose Gracchus]

If you really think Alabama in isolation has the material premises for a socialist society, then I have some beach front property to sell you in Kansas (maybe you can "construct socialism" in a single shithole small town too?).

[Tablo]

Lolwut?
The candlelight vigil was organized by some religious people. I know we aren't burning shit down and causing chaos, but we are a bit limited in what we can do. There aren't many leftists in the state and our actual population of Mexican immigrants is about 2%.. what we're doing is better than nothing. :/

Btw, it would be fucking hilarious if Alabama went socialist. xD

[Martin Blank]

Btw, it would be fucking hilarious if Alabama went socialist. xD

Well, they did put Helen Keller on their state quarter. Apparently, they didn't know she was a revolutionary Socialist.

http://www.theus50.com/images/state-quarters/alabama-quarter.jpg

Clueless conservatives or communist conspiracy? We report, you decide.

[Tablo]

Well, they did put Helen Keller on their state quarter. Apparently, they didn't know she was a revolutionary Socialist.

http://www.theus50.com/images/state-quarters/alabama-quarter.jpg

Clueless conservatives or communist conspiracy? We report, you decide.
Was she a revolutionary socialist? I was under the impression she was more of the reformist kind.

Fun fact! Learning about Helen Keller is part of the required curriculum for schools in Alabama. Funny thing is I never knew she was a socialist until I came to this site, despite the fact that is a significant part of her life. :lol:

[Martin Blank]

Was she a revolutionary socialist? I was under the impression she was more of the reformist kind.

She was a regular contributor to both The Appeal to Reason and International Socialist Review, both of which were publications that represented the left wing of the SPA.

[The Douche]

She was a regular contributor to both The Appeal to Reason and International Socialist Review, both of which were publications that represented the left wing of the SPA.

Also hung an IWW banner on her desk right? And supported the bolshevik revolution, in the beginning right?

[KurtFF8]

Also hung an IWW banner on her desk right? And supported the bolshevik revolution, in the beginning right?

Yes

But for some more interesting Left history of Alabama, perhaps the book Hammer and How: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression (http://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Hoe-Communists-Depression-Morrison/dp/0807842885) is a better start.


Product Description

Between 1929 and 1941, the Communist Party organized and led a radical, militantly antiracist movement in Alabama—the center of Party activity in the Depression South. Hammer and Hoe documents the efforts of the Alabama Communist Party and its allies to secure racial, economic, and political reforms. Sensitive to the complexities of gender, race, culture and class without compromising the political narrative, Robin Kelley illustrates one of the most unique and least understood radical movements in American history.The Alabama Communist Party was built from scratch by working people who had no Euro-American radical political tradition. It was composed largely of poor blacks, most of whom were semiliterate and devoutly religious, but it also attracted a handful of whites, including unemployed industrial workers, iconoclastic youth, and renegade liberals. Kelley shows that the cultural identities of these people from Alabama's farms, factories, mines, kitchens, and city streets shaped the development of the Party. The result was a remarkably resilient movement forged in a racist world that had little tolerance for radicals.
In the South race pervaded virtually every aspect of Communist activity. And because the Party's call for voting rights, racial equality, equal wages for women, and land for landless farmers represented a fundamental challenge to the society and economy of the South, it is not surprising that Party organizers faced a constant wave of violence.
Kelley's analysis ranges broadly, examining such topics as the Party's challenge to black middle-class leadership; the social, ideological, and cultural roots of black working-class radicalism; Communist efforts to build alliances with Southern liberals; and the emergence of a left-wing, interracial youth movement. He closes with a discussion of the Alabama Communist Party's demise and its legacy for future civil rights activism.

[praxis1966]

The candlelight vigil was organized by some religious people. I know we aren't burning shit down and causing chaos, but we are a bit limited in what we can do. There aren't many leftists in the state and our actual population of Mexican immigrants is about 2%.. what we're doing is better than nothing. :/

Meh We may bust your balls a little Tsukae, but we all know there are decent leftists there... It just happens they all go to Auburn. :tt2: