A leading international human rights organization slammed Alabama’s controversial immigration law on Wednesday, saying it flies in the face of U.S. and international conventions, and said it should be repealed.New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a 52-page report, said the law denies undocumented immigrants in Alabama their basic rights and threatens their access to basic necessities.
The report is based primarily on accounts given by 90 Alabama residents, including 57 illegal immigrants, who said they suffered discrimination and other abuses. Some of the undocumented immigrants lived in the state for more than 10 years.
HB56 came into effect in the state in September after a federal judge ruled that most of the law was constitutional. The measure does not allow immigrants to do business with the state, denies bail to illegal immigrants who are arrested, requires police officers to check the immigration status during routine traffic stops, and says a court can void any contract signed by an undocumented immigrant and another party, including an employer.
The law, considered the toughest against immigration in the United States, also makes it illegal for anyone to knowingly assist an undocumented immigrant. The Department of Justice has filed suit against the Alabama law as well as similar laws passed in Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah.
Human Rights Watch said many illegal immigrants left the state after the law took effect but those who remained said life is becoming more difficult in Alabama.
“Their children are obviously affected, but we also met a teacher who fought back tears as she described her students’ fears, a minister who lost 75 percent of his congregation, and a Latino permanent resident who was stopped by a state trooper for no reason except ethnicity,” said Grace Meng of Human Right Watch’s U.S. division, on the group’s website.
Overall, many undocumented immigrants said they have been forced to live in fear of being detained and have been forced to take drastic measures in their daily lives, the rights group said.
In several instances, the rights group said several people did not report to police they were victims of crimes committed against them. In another example, people who were victims of wage theft said they did nothing because they felt they could not get the money back.
A young man who was stopped by police for not having a driver’s license was repeatedly told by the officer, “You have no rights,” Human Rights Watch said. A permanent resident told the group she could not get her prescription refilled because she is not a citizen.
One provision that was blocked by the federal court required schools to check students’ immigration status, but the rights group said a number of families have already pulled their students and left Alabama.
On Monday, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a supporter of the law, said the state will seek changes to the law but stopped short of calling for its repeal, reported the Fort Payne Times-Journal.
“The governor has been meeting many groups across the state who have been impacted by the law and listening to their concerns and recommendations regarding the new immigration law,” a spokesperson with Bentley’s office, Jennifer Ardis, told the newspaper.
Ardis added that Bentley “strongly believes” that people who live and work in the state must do so legally, the newspaper reported.
The law, however, should be “simplified and clarified” but “he will not recommend repealing the law, but will ask that it be more effective,” Ardis said.
