A Rant About Alabama's Recent Immigration Bill

Alabama recently passed a bill¹ that puts some heavy emphasis on the fact that, well, illegal immigration is bad. In fact, those people shouldn't deserve to even be considered human! This law stems from the fact that many people in the law-making body of Alabama claim that illegal immigrants are stealing all Alabamian's jobs, a fact that could well enough be taken as fact. But, when examining the law, one almost wonders if there is a hint of racism placed here that overshadows even the job claim. This all comes following the entirely too controversial Arizona immigration bill. Except, well, this one is tougher.

This article is not meant to explain the law, but to look at portions of it from a specific (my personal) viewpoint. Let's look at a few portions of this bill that happen to scream "racism" and "racial profiling," or beyond that, just plain "inhumanity."

The law allows a policeman to inquire about a person's citizenship if they break the law for any other reason (traffic violation, etc). Well, let's see. Would a policeman suspect a white man in a suit of being an illegal immigrant? Probably not. That Latino* man that might be wearing clothes that are rugged or dirty? That's the one. With this law, the person can be arrested on the spot until their citizenship is verified.

Undocumented (illegal) children now must be validated by public schools as being legally documented before being allowed to enroll in public schools and colleges. This will prevent these children from receiving an equal education, and in the future not only will we see an uneducated illegal population, but an unassimiliated, uneducated population. These children have no choice in the actions of their parents, why punish them as well?

Lastly, it is now a crime to give a ride to a person who is illegally in the United States. Next time you need to give a ride to your dear friend Pedro*, ask him if he's here legally or not. If not, you both might be suffering some serious charges. Oh, also, it's illegal to harbor them as well. Have a baby sitter but you've never checked on their status? Some serious charges there too. This could also go as far as to prevent churches from sheltering undocumented peoples during times of need. No exceptions.


These few things can clearly be seen as racially discriminatory, as well as downright inhumane. I hope that this bill gets taken to a federal court and things are sorted out. To add onto that, though, the bill was written in a way where if anything has to be removed, the rest of the bill will remain in effect. Do you agree with or disagree with this law? If you live in Alabama, please don't hesitate to pitch your opinions to the governor and county representatives.


* One touchy point here. Th is in no way claims that "illegal immigrant" is referring to a Latino, however, because of stereotyping, that is how much of this law may be interpreted.

¹ CNN Wire Staff, "Alabama Governor Signs Tough New Immigration Law," CNN U.S.