SPLC Victorious Against Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law
Alabama’s vicious anti-immigrant law, which passed in 2011 amid warnings that it was unconstitutional, has been effectively gutted by an agreement the SPLC and other civil rights groups have reached with the state to permanently block key provisions of the law - adding Alabama to a list of states that have seen their anti-immigrant laws stopped by federal lawsuits.
The agreement, announced today, also significantly limits racial profiling under the law’s “papers, please” provisions that allow police to demand “papers” of individuals they suspect are in the country without authorization.
Provisions of the law that have been temporarily blocked by the courts will be permanently blocked under the agreement, effectively ending a 2011 lawsuit the SPLC and a coalition of civil rights groups brought against the law known as HB 56.
“We warned the legislature when they were debating HB 56 that if they passed this draconian law, we would sue in court and win,” said Sam Brooke, SPLC senior staff attorney. “That we have done. Now it is time for our state lawmakers to repeal the remnants of HB 56, and for our congressional delegation to support meaningful immigration reform that will fix our broken system.”