Cause & Effect Lessons for Alabama

by Chuck McGlawn 12/19/2011

The Cause & Effect lessons and REAL LIFE experience has shifted Alabama’s stance on its extremist immigration law from defiance to damage control.[Did he say DAMAGE CONTROL? That would mean the law is doing DAMAGE.] Gov. Robert Bentley admitted this month that the law needed fixing…   

We now learn that “When Mr. Bentley signed the law in June, he ignored warnings from legal experts and civil-rights advocates that it would curtail rights for all Alabamians, criminalize routine business transactions and acts of charity, encourage racial profiling, and cast an unconstitutional chill on school enrollment.”

Warnings came from other sources as well. It turns out that, “The governor and legislators were also warned that the law would attract multiple lawsuits and pummel the economy, particularly farming when immigrant workers fled.” It raises a question what percentage of Alabama’s population would have to be among the 74% of …Americans [who] Think (Wrongly) That Illegal Immigrants Hurt the Economy, for the Governor to ignore all the informed warnings.

Any Governor, worth his salt knows what to do when “The warnings have all come true” according to a New York Times Editorial, Alabama’s Second Thoughts Published: December 17, 2011

The law, as written and passed enables utility providers, “In just one example, some utilities are threatening to shut off customers without the right papers.”

From the NY Times editorial, “Mr. Strange [has] spent six months trying to defend the law in court and in public. At one point he even challenged the federal government’s authority to investigate civil-rights abuses committed under the law. A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked parts of the law; most recently, a judge issued a restraining order preventing Alabama from denying trailer-home licenses to people it decides are here illegally.”

Attorney general, Luther Strange has seen the light, as he, “is urging lawmakers to drop some major provisions, including:

“The requirement that schools collect immigration data on children and parents, which he said would cost too much for the benefit it would provide.

“The part making it a crime for immigrants not to carry their papers, which is illegal under federal law.

“The part barring people from college if they do not have documents, because some people, like certain refugees, can be here legally without documents.

“The sections that allow Alabama residents to sue officials they believe are not adequately enforcing the law, because of conflicts with the state Constitution.

Even if lawmakers accept Mr. Strange’s proposals, it still will not undo the harm — to the undocumented, to all Alabamians, to the state’s image and economy. This law is indefensible. The only solution is repeal.
Unfortunately, too many of Alabama’s politicians still don’t get it. Mike Hubbard, the House speaker, vowed on Facebook, “we’re not going to repeal or weaken the law, acquiescing to liberal elites’ and the news media’s efforts to intimidate and shame Alabama.” And 12 senators have written to the governor, urging him not to retreat. news media’s efforts to intimidate and shame Alabama.” And 12 senators have written to the governor, urging him not to retreat.