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States Take Steps To Curtail Illegal Immigration

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signed a law that makes many aspects of undocumented immigrants' lives potentially criminal activity.
David Bundy
/
AP
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signed a law that makes many aspects of undocumented immigrants' lives potentially criminal activity.

A federal crackdown on the use of undocumented immigrant labor is expanding. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a thousand companies on Wednesday that their hiring records will be inspected.

But increasingly, states are the new battleground in the immigration debate, taking much more stringent steps to curtail illegal immigration. The latest law comes from Alabama, which goes further than other states and is sure to face a legal challenge.

Juana is a typical proud mother. When you walk into her brick ranch house in east Birmingham, photographs of her three children adorn the entry way. One photo shows her oldest daughter, wearing a blue evening gown, grinning with her older brother at their high school prom. The youngest daughter is 11, the only U.S. citizen in the family.

Juana and her husband, Cesar, are from Guatemala. They've lived in Birmingham for more than 12 years without proper documents.

"I understand I'm not legal. I understand I don't have visa when I come here. But I try to not make problem, just work, come home, pay the bills and that's what I do with my family," Cesar says.

A law signed by Republican Gov. Robert Bentley last week makes many aspects of their lives potentially criminal activity — not just Cesar's landscape and construction work, and Juana's housecleaning.

Their landlord is forbidden to rent to illegal immigrants. They can be arrested if they report a crime or are involved in a traffic accident; their son can't enroll in a public college; and when their daughters return to public school, they'll be required to provide the immigration status of both the students and the parents.

With the help of a translator, Cesar says they were treated well for years, but recently it's become tense.

"There are people who seems like they're racist," Cesar says. "That's what we think, sometimes."

But sponsors of the legislation say it's not about race, it's about jobs. Says Republican State Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale, a Birmingham suburb: "Thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens are displacing Alabama workers who could be holding those jobs — the construction industry, food service, a number of things, landscaping."

Officials estimate there are about 130,000 illegal immigrants in Alabama, a state of 4.7 million people. Even though that's a fraction of the population, Beason is concerned about how fast the group is growing. The U.S. census shows that the state's Hispanic population grew 145 percent in the past decade.

State House Rep. Mickey Hammon, who sponsored the legislation, calls it an Arizona bill with an Alabama flavor.

"We are trying to discourage illegal immigrants from coming to the state of Alabama, and prevent those that are already here from putting down roots," says Hammon, who works in the construction business in north Alabama.

Hammon says he has experienced the impact of illegal immigrant labor.

"When you're in an atmosphere where you do things right, and by the law, and they have to compete against people that work with an underground market, it's very difficult, especially in tough economic times," he says.

Even though the Arizona law — and one in Utah — have been struck down by the federal courts, Hammon believes Alabama's law will hold up because it's based on federal immigration rules.

Its opponents disagree.

"We think the law is clearly unconstitutional," says Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. "It contains a number of provisions that have already been declared unconstitutional by a court in Arizona. But it goes far beyond the Arizona law."

The civil rights group plans to sue to stop the law.

"It kind of reverses presumption of innocence. If you don't have your papers on you, and the police have a reasonable suspicion that you're here illegally, they can arrest and detain you," she says.

Larry Amerson, the sheriff in Calhoun County, says he is troubled by the new burden on local law enforcement.

"We're supposed to hold them and then turn them over to federal authorities. Well, issue is, if the federal authorities do not accept their custody then, [it's] kind of like the tar baby. We've got this person that we can't turn loose of. We have to feed them, we have to house them, we have to take care of them," Amerson says.

Other provisions also give him pause, like one making it illegal to transport illegal immigrants.

"Theoretically we could be stopping and arresting people operating a church ministry that's picked up Hispanic children who are illegal aliens, and then impounding their bus, arresting the driver, and charging them with a felony," he says.

The crackdown doesn't go into effect until September, but it's already having the desired effect on illegal immigrants in Alabama.

"We're scared, we're afraid, we don't know what to do," Cesar says. "The only option is go back home. And no more America dream," he says.

For now, he says, his family is hoping the lawsuit will stop the law from going into effect.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR National Correspondent Debbie Elliott can be heard telling stories from her native South. She covers the latest news and politics, and is attuned to the region's rich culture and history.