June 25th, 2011
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Author: A rally and march in downtown Birmingham this evening to protest Alabama’s new laws to combat illegal immigration began shortly before 7 p.m.
More than 1,000 people have gathered for the event in Linn Park.
Churches and faith-based groups planned the march against Alabama’s new law targeting illegal immigrants, calling it a mean-spirited attempt to run an entire group of people out of a state that is still trying to recover from the damage of decades of race-based segregation laws.
Both supporters and opponents of the law describe it as the nation’s toughest state crackdown on illegal immigration. Protest leaders — many of whom were from Christian churches — said the law violates biblical principles and could criminalize basic ministry activities such as providing food, transportation or housing assistance to the needy if the recipient is in the United States illegally.
Alabama law enforcement leaders plan to meet next week with officials from the Department of Justice to discuss the state’s tough new immigration crackdown.
The new law allows officers to detain anyone who cannot prove they are in the country legally during a stop, detention or arrest.
The Alabama Sheriffs’ Association wants clarification about how long those suspected of being in the country illegally should be detained.
Gov. Robert Bentley told WSFA-TV on Friday that he’s open to changes in the bill. He said “it is the strongest immigration bill in the country, but we asked for that.”
More stories on the immigration law
Alabama lawmen, Justice Department officials to meet to review state’s new immigration law
Alabama immigration law raises questions from clergy
Alabama Legislature passes Arizona-style immigration bill
Critics say new Alabama immigration law will be costly
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Tags: A rally and march in downtown Birmingham this evening to protest Alabama’s new laws to combat illegal immigration began shortly before 7 p.m.
More than 1,000 people have gathered for the event in Linn Park.
Churches and faith-based groups planned the march against Alabama’s new law targeting illegal immigrants, calling it a mean-spirited attempt to run an entire group of people out of a state that is still trying to recover from the damage of decades of race-based segregation laws.
Both supporters and opponents of the law describe it as the nation’s toughest state crackdown on illegal immigration. Protest leaders — many of whom were from Christian churches — said the law violates biblical principles and could criminalize basic ministry activities such as providing food, transportation or housing assistance to the needy if the recipient is in the United States illegally.
Alabama law enforcement leaders plan to meet next week with officials from the Department of Justice to discuss the state’s tough new immigration crackdown.
The new law allows officers to detain anyone who cannot prove they are in the country legally during a stop, detention or arrest.
The Alabama Sheriffs’ Association wants clarification about how long those suspected of being in the country illegally should be detained.
Gov. Robert Bentley told WSFA-TV on Friday that he’s open to changes in the bill. He said “it is the strongest immigration bill in the country, but we asked for that.”
More stories on the immigration law
Alabama lawmen, Justice Department officials to meet to review state’s new immigration law
Alabama immigration law raises questions from clergy
Alabama Legislature passes Arizona-style immigration bill
Critics say new Alabama immigration law will be costly
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters featured article: Ten Years Of Media Lens – Our Problem With Mainstream Dissidents.
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