Justice Department Sues Alabama over Immigration Enforcement Law; Seeks Injunction Before it Goes into Effect

The U.S. Justice Department, on behalf of itself, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and with consultation with the Department of Education, have filed a lawsuit in Alabama federal court challenging the state’s efforts to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit seeks an injunction before the law goes into effect on September 1 and states that the Alabama law undermines federal enforcement efforts of immigration laws.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed the bill into law in June. The bill requires the mandatory use of E-Verify for all public and private businesses and includes the following provisions:

Creates
an affirmative defense against business penalties if E-Verify is used;
Prohibits
lawsuits against businesses that fire an employee due to an E-Verify final
non-confirmation determination;
Requires
state and local governments to use the SAVE system to verify public-benefits
eligibility for those attesting to be non-citizens;
Creates
a misdemeanor for failure to carry an alien registration document;
Requires
police, after a lawful stop and when practicable, to check a person’s
immigration status if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is
illegally present. 4th Amendment protections are included and the status-check
requirement is stayed for persons who are crime victims or witnesses;
Creates
misdemeanors for seeking day-laborer work when illegal present and hiring
illegally-present day laborers;
Creates
misdemeanors for aiding and abetting illegal aliens;
Bans
illegal aliens from state universities and colleges; and
Prohibits
illegal-alien sanctuary policies;
Requires
the Attorney General to apply for a 287(g) MOU for state police;
Creates
a crime for producing fake IDs; and
Requires
elementary and secondary schools to request a birth certificate for all
enrolling students and to determine whether such children were born outside of
the U.S. or are children of illegal aliens requiring
English-as-a-Second-language classes. Also requires the collection of
statistics and a determination of the costs related to illegal-alien students.

The Justice Department under Pres. Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have already filed suit against the state of Arizona for passing a similar law in 2010.

“Today’s action makes clear that setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility that cannot be addressed through a patchwork of state immigration laws,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “The department is committed to evaluating each state immigration law and making decisions based on the facts and the law. To the extent we find state laws that interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law, we are prepared to bring suit, as we did in Arizona.”

“DHS continues to enforce federal immigration laws in Alabama and around the country in smart, effective ways that focus our resources on criminal aliens and employers who knowingly hire illegal labor, as well as continue to secure our border,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “Legislation like this diverts critical law enforcement resources from the most serious threats to public safety and undermines the vital trust between local jurisdictions and the communities they serve. We continue to support comprehensive reform of our immigration system at the federal level because this challenge cannot be solved by a patchwork of inconsistent state laws.”