On Thursday, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed an anti-illegal-immigration bill that is being hailed the toughest in the nation.
The law, similar to that of Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB 1070, which requires police to ask for documentation from people they stop for routine violations to verify their legal status in the country and penalizing businesses that knowingly employ undocumented workers, goes one step further by requiring public schools to determine the citizenship status of students in the state of Alabama.
The law is set to be implemented on Sept. 1 and opponents are already gearing up lawsuits to challenge the bill.\
“It is clearly unconstitutional. It’s mean-spirited, racist, and we think a court will enjoin it,” said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
[…] “It is clearly unconstitutional. It’s mean-spirited, racist, and we think a court will enjoin it,” said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. […]