Alabama Legislature Moves On Arizona-Style Law

If you’re keeping score, Alabama is the latest state to move on enacting an Arizona-type immigration law.

The measure, that approved by the alabama House of Representatives by a vote of 73 to 28, mimics Arizona’s controversial sb1070 almost point-per-point:

• it gives state and local police the power to check the immigration status of detained persons.
• it requires businesses to run checks on new employees through the federal E-verify computer database
• and denies public services to undocumented workers

According to a Reuters report, Rep. Micky Hammon, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said

“We cannot allow Alabama to become a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.”

So the Alabama house followed his lead and approved the measure, except for the Democrats who opposed it to no avail.

In case you were wondering, Alabama’s Latino population increased from 75,830 to 185,602 over the past ten years – that’s a 145 percent jump.

The measure now goes to the Alabama senate for debate and a vote.

Follow Victor Landa onTwitter: @vlanda