Federal judge blocks Alabama’s new immigration law from taking effect this week
August 29th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn cited the need for more time to consider the legal challenges against the law in an injunction that blocks implementation of the law through September 29 “In entering this order the court specifically notes that it is in no way addressing the merits of the motions,” the judge wrote in her two-page order. Federal judges have previously blocked key parts of other immigration laws passed in Georgia, Arizona, Utah and Indiana. The Alabama law, widely seen as the toughest state measure on illegal immigration, requires police to detain people they suspect of being in the United States illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason. The law also makes it a crime to knowingly transport or harbor an illegal immigrant, and requires public schools to determine, by reviewing birth certificates or sworn affidavits, the legal residency status of students upon enrollment. (reuters)
