Court blocks parts of Ala. immigration law

Protesters march to the Etowah County Detention Center to protest Alabama's new immigration laws on, Dec. 3, 2011 in downtown Gadsden, Ala. / AP Photo

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked two more sections of Alabama's tough new law targeting illegal immigration pending the outcome of lawsuits that seek to overturn the law entirely.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order temporarily halting a section that says courts can't enforce contracts involving illegal immigrants and another that makes it a felony for an illegal immigrant to do business with the state.

The law adopted last year was challenged by both the federal government and a coalition of activist groups. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit heard arguments last week but said it won't rule on the overall case until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a federal challenge to a similar law in Arizona. The appeals court is also weighing Georgia's law.

Lawyers in the Alabama case had asked the court to at least temporarily stop the two sections and others, claiming they were causing harm to people in the state.

"We are very pleased that the Eleventh Circuit understood the harms these provisions were causing in Alabama, and saw fit to enjoin them," said the Southern Poverty Law Center's Sam Brooke, who argued before the panel last week. "This is a great day for the residents of our state."

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said he strongly disagrees with the court's decision.

"I will continue to vigorously defend Alabama's immigration law in the courts," he said. "I am hopeful that the Supreme Court's coming decision in the Arizona case will make clear that our law is constitutional."

In October, the appeals court temporarily blocked other parts of the law, including a requirement for schools to check students' immigration status.

Sections still in effect include one that requires a law enforcement officer to determine the citizenship and legal status of a person stopped or arrested if the officer has a "reasonable suspicion" that he person is in the country illegally.

Lawyers in the Georgia case did not ask for immediate action because the parts of that state's law that they believe are most harmful were blocked by a federal judge in June.

After Arizona adopted its tough law in 2010, five other states — Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah — adopted variations on it last year, with Alabama's widely considered the toughest in the nation. All five laws have been challenged by coalitions of civil rights and immigrant rights groups, and the federal government has sued to block those in Alabama, South Carolina and Utah.

Opponents of the measures argue such laws lead to discrimination and racial profiling, and they say immigration is a federal issue that shouldn't be governed by a patchwork of state laws. Supporters say states have been forced to protect their resources because the federal government hasn't done enough to quell the influx of illegal immigrants.

[rightontarget]

The Feds need to GET OFF THE ILLEGAL BANDWAGON!! Good grief! Where's the respect that should be given to all those wonderful people who immigrated to this country LEGALLY! Since when do we consider legal immigration and ILLEGAL immigration to be the same thing???? IT'S NOT!!!!! I have many dear friends who came, went through the system, paid their dues and waited years for the privaledge of becoming a LEGAL citizen of this country. Do not even mention somebody who would sneak into the country and plop themselves down, steal a job they are not entitled to have, send their kids to OUR public schools and demand citizenship rights in the same sentence with them. That is an INSULT!!! What? Just because they want something "better" for themselves and their family? SO WHAT!!!! So did every LEGAL immigrant that came to this country. No excuses for those who would try to STEAL what so many others have EARNED!

[DenverBroncofan]

I agree with everything except the job theft...Jobs are given not stolen...blame the employers that hire and hold them accountable

[rightontarget]

You are right Denver. I think there should be strict law enforcement penalties applied to ANYONE who knowingly hires an illegal. Employers do it because they can "get away" with it and that needs to stop. I also think that proof of LEGAL residency should be required to register for any US school and also required before a person can rent or buy property.

[rightontarget]

Lawyers in the Alabama case had asked the court to at least temporarily stop the two sections and others, claiming they were causing harm to people in the state.
*********************************************

What a load of crap!!! It's not causing any harm to LEGAL people in the state so it shouldn't matter at all. The illegals have no right to be there in the first place!!!!

[nonpolitico]

I agree rightontarget!!
Another case of Washington trying to horn in on States Law.
I noticed that the report included that the Fed move was supported by "Activist groups". Are these groups Socialist? Are they Americans?
For REAL Americans would understand that STATES CAME BEFORE WASHINGTON AND FED GOVT!!!
Read the Constitution you guys, it would save time. For you have the right to DISAGREE with a State, but none to interfere in its judiciary findings!!

[AttyFAM]

by sirmarion-2009 March 9, 2012 8:39 AM EST
Illegals are criminals and we need to weed out the criminals from our society,maybe adopt the North Korean method 12 years in a lobor camp then you can apply for citizenship?
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, you are wrong. It is not a crime to be in the US without "documentation". Visitors do not need a visa to come to the US and there is no provision under which ICE could prosecute someone for being here without "documentation".

As to making the US like North Korea, it is sad to think that an apparent American citizen such as yourself would make such a deranged suggestion. Shame on you.

[rightontarget]

"Visitors" should still be required to have some type of identification on them. There must be a way to keep the "visitors" who are undocumented from STAYING here and acting like they are citizens!!!!!!!!!!!! They are NOT citizens and are NOT permanent residents. They have NO rights in this country and should NOT claim that they do. If you are a "visitor" then enjoy your stay and THEN GO HOME!

[sirmarion-2009]

So what recourse does a state have if doing business with an Illegal and they default?(run back to Mexico).If a court can not enforce a contract ,say a apartment leaser has with an illegal who fails to pay their rent? This is going to make the States and Housing leaser just more likely not to lease,or hire illegals to do road clean up or landscaping.

[lonestar9000]

The state legislators should understand that the Federal government and big business do NOT want illegal immigration stopped. Big business loves illegals because they work for less, and just the threat of hiring legal immigrants is often enough to stop workers asking for pay hikes or benefits. So the Feds refusing to enforce immigration laws makes business happy, and happy businesses make campaign contributions.

[dzaffina]

the rightwing's version of ethnic cleansing, brown people first. whos next?

[sirmarion-2009]

That is illegal brown people first,get it right now.

[AttyFAM]

simarion -

Maybe you missed the harassment of LEGAL brown people that resulted from this law. Brown people born in this country have had to leave Alabama to stop their children from being told "Go back to Mexico" and from having school authorities and police repeatedly question them about what foreign country they come from.

[earnestking]

I am deeply appalled by the actions of the so-called "Christians" on this issue of immigration. what is more important- the people or the law? Yet they are quick to say "we are under grace and not under the law". What a hypocrites! this is what make Christianity what it is in America. Let American Christians go and learn true Christianity is in other places of the world. It is a shame.

[kbrum1066]

Illegal is ILLEGAL... NOT LEGAL. Which part of this do these people making these rulings NOT UNDERSTAND???
While they are NOT LEGAL CITIZENS, they should not be entitled to all of the benefits of being a LEGAL CITIZEN of this country. They SHOULD NOT be treated better than all of the others that have made evry effort TO BE AMERICAN CITIZENS (including learning the language and our political system). MOST of the illegals do NOT want to become citizens, they do NOT want to live by our laws, they do NOT want to learn our language, and they DO NOT want to become AMericans.
They are still illegal and can (and should) be arrested as any other law breaker would. The reason all of the states are doing this IS BECAUSE OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY. They have decided ON THIER OWN to only enforce what they want and ignore most everything else!
I can assure you that the second this country finds against these illegals, THEN they will claim we have to treat them as citizens of the country they came from... even though there is a double standard in their own countries.
Just look at Mexico's policies... you have NO RIGHTS if you are illegal and you have NO RIGHTS even if you are there legally and NOT a citizen.

[AttyFAM]

See my advice to Oceanliner.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

The 14th amendment should have expired once all eligible black folks were granted the citizenship they deserved at the time. That amendment should be overhauled because of the inadverted application in modern times.

Liberals are correct in a concern for the rights of illegal immigrants. We are very obligated to pursue due process and treat them with dignity, honor, compassion, and respect as we show them the door out of the country.

My wife has a very heavy Russian accent. Though she is not obliged to do so, she carries a copy of her USA passport with her in case an authority questions her citizenship. It bothers neither of us in the least if law enforcement asks questions. No screams of racial profiling. No hissy fits, because the illegals are a slur to anyone who came of citizenship legitimately. You know what they'd do to my wife back in Stalinist Russia if something was wrong with her papers? This is paradise.

[ammo17]

MAYBE IT IS ME ,BUT CAN SOMEONE PUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OUR CLASSROOMS SO THESE LIBERAL JUDGES CAN UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THE WORD ILLEGAL.THE PEOPLE WHO HIRE AND PAY THE ILLEGALS ARE PROBABLY PAYING THESE JUDGES.

[Raptorsmasher]

Please stop yelling, and it has nothing to do with English not being spoken in classrooms.