Alabama HB 56 (AL Act 2011–535), titled the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act is an anti-
illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
Kansas Secretary of State
The secretary of state of Kansas is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kansas. The current secretary of state is the former speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Kansas House of Representatives, Scott Schwab, who was sworn in on Ja ...
Kris Kobach
Kris William Kobach ( ; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who is the Attorney General of Kansas. He previously served as the 31st Secretary of State of Kansas. A former Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach cam ...
Micky Hammon
Micky Hammon is a former American politician serving in the Republican Party who became the Majority Leader of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing the 4th district, Limestone and Morgan counties.Alabama State Senator Scott Beason, was passed by the
Alabama House of Representatives
The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...
and
Alabama Senate
The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...
with widespread legislative support. It was then signed into law on June 9, 2011, by Governor
Robert J. Bentley
Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation after a sex scandal involving a political aide and subsequent arre ...
.
Provisions
The Alabama law requires that if police have "reasonable suspicion" that a person is an immigrant unlawfully present in the United States, in the midst of any legal stop, detention or arrest, to make a similarly reasonable attempt to determine that person's legal status. An exemption is provided if such action would hinder an official investigation of some kind.
The law prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving any public benefits at either the state or local level. It bans illegal immigrants from attending publicly owned colleges or universities (currently blocked). At the high, middle, and elementary public school levels, the law requires that school officials ascertain whether students are illegal immigrants. Attendance is not prohibited for such students; school districts are mandated to submit annual tallies on the suspected number of illegal immigrants when making report to state education officials.
The law prohibits the transporting or harboring of illegal immigrants (currently blocked). It prohibits landlords from renting property to illegal immigrants. It forbids employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants for any job within Alabama. Moreover, it considers as a discriminatory practice any action to refuse to employ or remove a legal resident of the state when an illegal one is already employed (currently blocked). The law requires large and small businesses to validate the immigration status of employees using the US
E-Verify
E-Verify is a United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees, both U.S. and foreign citizens, to work in the United States.
No federal law mandates use of E-Verif ...
program. The law prohibits illegal immigrants from applying for work. (currently blocked)
The production of false identification documents is considered a crime. Contracts formed in which one party is an illegal immigrant and the other has direct knowledge of that are deemed null and void. The law also requires voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering.
Legal challenges to the law
The law was originally scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2011, but legal actions were taken against it by the
Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
, some religious groups, student groups (Spanish and Latino Student Alliance), and some immigrant-rights groups, all making claims that the law was unconstitutional.
On August 29, 2011, U.S. Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, sitting for the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (in case citations, N.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...
, temporarily blocked enforcement of the law, saying she needed more time to study the case. On September 28, 2011, Judge Blackburn gave the green light to key parts of the law.
Less than a month after the bill was signed into law, the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA) filed the case ''Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama v. Bentley'' challenging HB 56 on the grounds that various provisions of the act, and the entire law as a whole, are preempted by federal law, and are therefore illegal. HICA was only the first to file such a claim, followed by the United States Department of Justice with the suit ''United States v. Alabama'' and a group of Alabama Church Leaders with ''Parsley v. Bentley''. After the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of groups including the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...
appealed that ruling, the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts:
* Middle District of Alabama
* Northern District of Alabama
* ...
on October 14, 2011, again put several key provisions on hold until the issues of
constitutionality
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
could be addressed, including the requirement on schools to collect information on enrolling students' immigration status. Other provisions, such as those making contracts with undocumented aliens null and void, were left to stand.
U.S. Judge
Myron Herbert Thompson
Myron Herbert Thompson (born January 7, 1947) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Education and career
Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Thompson received a Bachelor of Art ...
, sitting for the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...
, blocked an additional portion of the law on November 23, 2011, that prevented undocumented immigrants from obtaining certain mobile home registrations.
In a further December 12, 2011, ruling, Thompson attacked the history behind the law, describing the legislative debate as having been "laced with derogatory comments about Hispanics." He said it was likely that the entire law was "discriminatorily based" and that lawmakers employed ethnic stereotypes and used the terms "Hispanic" and "illegal immigrant" interchangeably. He accused State Representative Hammon of having misused a news article to justify a claim that Alabama was home to the second fastest growing population of undocumented immigrants in the nation.
Impact
Once the federal ruling of September 29, 2011 upholding most of the law went into effect, several Alabama school districts reported a significant drop in the number of Hispanic children attending public schools. State and local officials urged immigrants to keep their children in the schools, saying the law does not bar them from attending.
Industries dependent on migrant labor have been strongly impacted. Farmers have found that Americans are not willing to work under such harsh working conditions for low pay. Some businesses in other industries have lost workers, including legal workers, as a result of the new immigration law.
On November 18, 2011, a German
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...
executive was arrested for not having proper documentation on him while on business in Alabama, having left his passport at the hotel where he was staying and carrying only his
German identity card
The German Identity Card (, ) is issued to German citizens by local registration offices in Germany and diplomatic missions abroad, while they are produced at the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin.
Obligation of identification
According to the ...
.
On December 2, 2011, a Japanese
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
executive was stopped in
Leeds, Alabama
Leeds is a tri-county municipality located in Jefferson, St. Clair, and Shelby counties in the State of Alabama and is an eastern suburb of Birmingham. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 12,324.
Leeds was founded in 1877 ...
, at a checkpoint set up by police to catch unlicensed drivers. He was ticketed on the spot, despite the fact that he showed an International Driving Permit, a valid
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
and a U.S. work permit.
On December 18, 2011, it was reported that Alabama's unemployment rate had fallen from 9.2 percent to 8.7 percent. Ahmad Ijaz, Director of Economic Forecasting at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...
, found that the majority of job growth in 2011 was in the automotive sector – an area of the economy where undocumented workers were uncommon. Ijaz attributed a rise in employment to the retail growth during holiday sales. Contrary to expectation, there was no job growth in sectors where Latinos typically work – construction, agriculture, and poultry processing.
In 2012, a study by Dr. Samuel Addy of the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...
estimated that HB56 could shrink the state's annual GDP by $11 billion or almost 6%, a result of lost sales and income taxes and fall in demand from lost consumers. One study found that "Alabama HB 56 contributed to an increase in violent crime rates, while there was no significant change in property crime rates after the act."
Calls for revisions
On December 5, 2011,
Attorney General of Alabama
The Attorney General of Alabama is an elected, constitutional officer of the State of Alabama. The office of the Attorney General is located at the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. Henry Hitchcock was elected Alabama's first attorney general ...
Luther Strange
Luther Johnson Strange III (born March 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Sen. Jeff Sessions upon Ses ...
recommended repealing several parts of the law: the provision requiring collection of the immigration status of public school students, the provision requiring immigrants to always carry alien registration cards, and the allowance of lawsuits by state citizens who do not believe public officials are enforcing the law.
Sanctuary city
Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...
*
Arizona SB 1070
The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest a ...
*
Texas Senate Bill 4
Texas Senate Bill 4 (or Texas SB 4) is a bill that effectively bans sanctuary cities in the state of Texas. It was filed on November 15, 2016, and discussed during the regular session of the eighty-fifth Texas Legislature. Texas Governor Greg Ab ...
*
Special Order 40 Special Order 40 is a police mandate implemented in 1979 by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), its Police Chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles City Council preventing LAPD officers from questioning people for the sole purpose of determini ...