More than 90 advocacy groups and countries have filed briefs in opposition to Alabama’s new anti-immigrant law to highlight the harm they say harm the law will inflict across the state and the growing opposition to other anti-immigrant legislation nationwide. The groups include:
- The nations joining Mexico’s amicus curiae brief opposing the law include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing how the law will discourage the reporting of domestic violence and other violent crimes: Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Legal Momentum, ASISTA Immigration Assistance, the Victim Rights Law Center, Alianza Latina en contra de la Agresión Sexual (ALAS), American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Arte Sana, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,California Women’s Law Center, Break the Chain Campaign, Casa de Esperanza (Minnesota), Casa de Maryland, Inc., Central American Resource Center, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), Coalition of Labor Union Women, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc., Counsel of Mexican Federations in North America/Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamericana, Family Values @ Work Consortium, Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (IowaCASA), Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Nancy Kelly, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, National Association of Social Workers and the Alabama Chapter of NASW, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Council of Jewish Women, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center, Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, Inc., 9 to 5, National Association of Working Women, Raksha, South Asian Americans Leading Together, University of Cincinnati College of Law Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Voces de La Frontera, Washington Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing the law’s negative impact on individuals’ civil rights: the Alabama State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Alabama Council on Human Relations, Alabama New South Coalition, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Alabama NOW, Birmingham Peace Project, Dominican American National Roundtable, the National Dominican American Council, Equality Alabama, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund, Hispanic Federation, Immigration Equality, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Montgomery Improvement Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, National Council of La Raza, National Employment Law Project, National Guestworker Alliance, the National Immigration Law Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild, National Lawyers Guild, the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Society of American Law Teachers, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.
- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers signed a brief describing the threat posed to individuals’ constitutionally protected rights against prolonged detention, the fact that the law will deputize Alabama police officers as immigration agents in conflict with federal law and the law’s overall negative impact in criminal justice matters.
- The Alabama Education Association and the National Education Association signed a brief describing the law’s negative impact on Alabama educators, students and families.
- The following organizations signed briefs citing the law’s adverse impact on students who have limited English proficiency or are English language-learners: Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities, Hispanic College Fund, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Multicultural Education, Training & Advocacy, Inc. The brief asserts that HB 56 seeks to deter immigrant children from attending school because it requires educators to ascertain their families’ immigration status.
- The Anti-Defamation League signed a brief describing the law’s impact on victims of hate crimes.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing the law’s adverse impact on housing in Alabama: Central Alabama Fair Housing Center, Fair Housing Center of North Alabama, South Alabama Center for Fair Housing and the National Fair Housing Alliance.
- The American Immigration Lawyers Association signed a brief describing how the law is incompatible with existing federal immigration law.
Related Issues
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AlabamaMar 2015
Smart Justice
Immigrants' Rights
Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama v. BentleyHispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama v. Bentley
The Alabama state legislature passed a draconian anti-immigrant law in June, 2011, the toughest of several state laws modeled after Arizona’s SB 1070. Like the Arizona law, SB 56 authorized police to ask for proof of citizenship or immigration status during a traffic stop based on “reasonable suspicion” that the person was an undocumented immigrant. The law went even further than Arizona’s, with provisions that required public school officials to verify the immigration status of children and their parents, that made it a crime for undocumented immigrants to solicit work, and criminalized Alabamians for ordinary, everyday interactions with undocumented individuals like renting a mobile home or offering a ride. -
Press ReleaseAug 2011
Immigrants' Rights
ACLU and Civil Rights Coalition Welcome Opposition to Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant LawACLU and Civil Rights Coalition Welcome Opposition to Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Law
More Than 90 Advocacy Groups and Countries Filed Briefs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of other civil rights groups welcomed today the filing of legal briefs on behalf of more than 90 advocacy groups and countries opposed to Alabama’s new anti-immigrant law, HB 56. The groups cited the briefs as further evidence of the widespread harm the law will inflict across the state and the growing opposition to HB 56 and similar anti-immigrant measures across the country. Nine amicus curiae briefs were filed last week in the civil rights coalition lawsuit challenging the law. The briefs demonstrate that the Alabama law interferes with U.S. diplomatic interests and encourages discrimination. Civil rights and education groups contend that the law will adversely impact victims of crimes, students with limited English proficiency, Alabama educators and others. The law is set to take effect on September 1. “The outpouring of these briefs shows broad support for the lawsuits challenging this unconstitutional law,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “They condemn the Alabama law because it violates core civil rights and interferes with our government’s ability to protect our national interests on immigration and foreign relations.” The coalition asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama last month to block the law from taking effect. The court has consolidated the coalition’s lawsuit with a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, which accuses the state of undermining federal immigration priorities, and a lawsuit filed by state religious leaders, which alleges the law criminalizes their ability to worship by making it a potential crime to be a good samaritan to an undocumented immigrant. Mary Bauer, SPLC’s legal director, said: “We are pleased to see so many groups voice their opposition to a law that undermines the core American values of fairness and equality. These briefs show this law will wreak havoc across the state and trample the rights of countless residents – regardless of immigration status.” Linton Joaquin, NILC’s general counsel, said: “The diversity of these amici briefs shows the staggering reach of HB 56 and the dire consequences its implementation would have on students, survivors of crime and people of color all across the state.” HB 56 allows law enforcement officials to check individuals’ immigration status, makes it a crime to knowingly transport or house an undocumented immigrant and requires school officials to determine the immigration status of students and their parents, among other provisions. Click here for a listing of the organizations that filed briefs.