Alabama is facing heavy criticism for its extremely strict illegal immigration laws. The fast-growing illegal immigration population in the state has continued to provoke the state's Republican party to take action and with their recent gain of control of the Legislature, they have shown ample support for the restrictions. Most alarming to opponents of the law, are the provisions stipulating public school students' requirement to verify their citizenship status. Other restrictions like this have basically made it illegal to be an unverified immigrant in the state of Alabama, and the Justice Department has raised concern that the state is infringing on federal immigrant laws. Interestingly, while opponents urge Alabama to block many of these provisions, many states with growing illegal immigrant populations have already amended equally strict laws out of their immigration policies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/alabama-immigration-law-ruling_n_985529.html
It will be an interesting social/economic experiment to witness the effect that this bill and judgment has on immigrant communities in AL. Will they exodus outta there? If so, that could be another interesting case of the economic impact of undocumented immigrant communities, for better or worse. Last, I would like to point out how this legislation perpetuates the perspective of needing to punish the undocumented, not the companies who hire and market to them. The only punishment for employers is not being able to deduct wage taxes from undocumented wages. Keep us updated on this issue!
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