Immigration Reform

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Immigration Reform Alabamas Anti-Immigrant Law
HB56
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Why do immigrants come to the U.S.?

• Better quality of life
• Business/Work
• Better opportunities for childrens education
• Fleeing unstable political and economic
  situations
• NAFTA/CAFTA

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Immigration 101

• Ways to immigrate
• Family-based petition
• Employment-based petition
• Humanitarian status
• Diversity lottery

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Immigration 101

• Citizen
• Legal Permanent Resident
• Visas
• Student
• Work
• Asylum
• U/T Visas for victims of crime or human
  trafficking
• Undocumented
• EWI
• Overstayed Visa

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Immigration 101
Backlog for family-based petitions from Mexico
January 2012

• There are an estimated 12 million undocumented
  immigrants in the U.S., ¾ of whom are Hispanic
  (Pew Hispanic Center, 2009)
• Costs Family-based Green Card Petition1560
  Citizenship/
• Naturalization680

Unmarried child (gt21) of citizen 1993
Spouse or child (lt21) of LPR 2009
Married child of citizen 1992
Sibling of citizen 1996
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What was HB56 intended to do?

• Create new crimes for any official agency that
  impedes the enforcement of the law. (BLOCKED)
• Create a redundant ban of undocumented immigrants
  from state and federally-funded services
• Bar students who are not U.S. Citizens, LPRs, or
  non-immigrant visa holders from access to public
  universities and colleges. (BLOCKED)
• Redundantly mandate E-Verify for businesses who
  get contracts from the state.

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What was HB56 intended to do?

• Create a state-level crimes for anyone who is in
  Alabama without current immigration status.
  (BLOCKED)
• Prohibit undocumented immigrants from soliciting
  work. Prohibits the hiring of day laborers
  (regardless of immigration status). BLOCKED
• Mandate that local law enforcement verify an
  individuals immigration status in the course of
  a detention or arrest if they have reasonable
  suspicion that that person is undocumented.

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What was HB56 intended to do?

• Create news crimes for
• Harboring (BLOCKED)
• Transporting (BLOCKED)
• Renting to (BLOCKED)
• False IDs
• Mandate E-verify for all employer
• Prohibit bond for an undocumented immigrant (or
  an immigrant whose status has not yet been
  verified)

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What was HB56 intended to do?

• Give new powers to the Alabama Department of
  Homeland Security
• Negate contracts entered into with undocumented
  immigrants
• Require schools to verify the immigration status
  of all students and their parents in order to
  report this information to the legislature
  (BLOCKED)
• Prohibits state business transactions with
  undocumented immigrants (including business
  licenses and license plates)
• Creates a redundant voter ID law

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Why is HB56 so controversial?

• Federal preemption
• Unconstitutionality
• Could lead to racial profiling, habeas corpus,
  etc.
• Chills the effect of Plyer v. Doe
• Makes many average, U.S. citizens criminals
• Makes ALL immigrants suspect
• Economic realitieslabor shortages, lost foreign
  investment, cost of litigation, cost of
  implementing new policies
• Destroys trust between immigrants and local law
  enforcement

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The systems broken. How do we fix it?

• Repeal ALs Anti-immigrant Law HB56
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform
• Broad faith group support
• Includes
• Earned path to citizenship
• Enforcement
• Expanded temporary work visa programs for
  low-skilled labor
• DREAM Act
• DREAM Act
• Trade Policy Reform
• Repeal NAFTA and CAFTA

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Resources

• Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
  www.faithandimmigration.org
• Sojourners www.sojo.net
• Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama
  www.hispanicinterst.org
• Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ)
  www.acij.net
• Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
• Issued report in Dec 2011, No Way to Live

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Thank you! For more information, contact Victor
Spezzini Community Organizer Hispanic Interest
Coalition of Alabama (HICA!) vspezzini_at_hispanicin
terest.org 205-706-5885