Taking a Stand in Alabama

This week Dothan, Alabama based "The 270 View" was proud to join with The Rights Working Group and two hundred and thirty-three religious, labor and civil rights groups to call on the Obama Administration to end immigration reporting partnerships with local police in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana and Utah.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, the 233 organizations said the recommendations were intended to “ensure that Department of Homeland Security enforcement operations do not contribute to racial profiling and prolonged detention in Arizona and the other states that have passed recent immigration enforcement laws.” The groups urge that DHS must take concrete steps to ensure that the federal government is not helping police to engage in discriminatory policing. In addition to calling for a termination of these states’ immigration enforcement partnerships, the organizations called on DHS to:

Collect data to determine whether state and local police in the six states are engaged in racial profiling or illegal detentions.

Establish a centralized unit at DHS headquarters to review all immigration enforcement decisions to ensure DHS enforcement does not further racial profiling.

Give specialized instructions to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Support Center on how to respond to inquiries made by local police in the six states to prevent DHS from serving as a conduit for discriminatory policing.

Devote more resources to implementing its prosecutorial discretion policy robustly in the six states.

The 270 View's Dothan, Alabama based founder Bryan L. Holcomb stated "As an organization located in Alabama it was personally very important to me that I participate with these other groups in urging for state laws like Alabama's own HB 56 to be examined. The passage of this Alabama law created a partnership between DHS/ICE and state & local governments and local law enforcement agencies. The vast majority of these local governments and local law enforcement agencies had no input in the passage of this law and did not necessarily wish to indirectly become enforcers of a broken immigration system. Furthermore the very nature of this partnership between states like Alabama and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency creates an environment under which the potential for the denial of civil rights is very likely for certain minorities who it appears can now be legally discriminated against according to laws like Alabama's current HB 56."

Alabama's current immigration law (HB 56) is regarded by many as the nation's strictest anti-illegal immigration law. Under HB 56 Alabama has created a system under which undocumented immigrants are unable to interact with local and state Alabama government agencies in any way and for any purpose. This has effectively made an entire class of people into “non-persons” in the eyes of the law. For example, under this law if a person who was perceived by law enforcement to "look undocumented" was to call law enforcement for any reason they could be detained against there will until there citizenship was proven. This detainment and denial of basic civil rights could lead to large numbers of American citizens in states like Alabama being detained against there will until local courts or law enforcement decided to release them.

The 270 View Joins The Fight In Alabama!

The 270 View was proud to be a part of this action. We are listed under Regional, State & Local Organizations. The actual letter to Secretary Janet Napolitano can be found here.


Coalition of Civil and Human Rights Groups Urge Department of Homeland Security To Say No to Alabama’s Unconstitutional Immigration Law

Contact: Keith Rushing, Rights Working Group, 202.591.3305, 202.557.4291
krushing@rightsworkinggroup.org

November 8, 2011, Washington D.C. – Today, a diverse group of more than 300 civil rights, immigrant rights, faith and human rights organizations, including Rights Working Group came together to demand that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) take immediate action to address the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Alabama because of HB 56, the state immigration law that took effect in September. HB 56 is the harshest anti-immigrant law in the nation and the inherent discriminatory nature of this legislation recalls the days of Jim Crow. As a result of HB 56, Latino children fear attending schools, families are unable to access municipal services such as clean water or library cards, and law enforcement is required to demand papers from anyone they suspect is undocumented.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, these groups demanded that DHS take all actions necessary to ensure that no one arrested or profiled under HB 56 is detained or deported by DHS, consistent with the Justice Department's position that key provisions of HB 56 are unconstitutional. Specifically, DHS should immediately suspend ICE ACCESS programs in Alabama, which require DHS to engage in partnerships with Alabama law enforcement agencies who will be engaged in discriminatory police practices while enforcing the “papers please” provisions of the law. The groups also urged DHS to promote and enforce its own guidance which limits state action in immigration matters, as well as exercise favorable discretion in any case that arises from enforcement of Alabama’s HB 56. The Department of Justice is currently challenging the constitutionality of Alabama’s law. However, the effectiveness of HB 56 hinges on the cooperation of DHS, as the law envisions DHS detaining and deporting non-citizens caught in its dragnet.

“This law requires law enforcement to make snap judgments about a person’s immigration status based on their appearance, inevitably resulting in widespread racial profiling. Under the design of this law, victims of unconstitutional police practices would be picked up and deported by DHS. DHS should not be playing this role and should act decisively in refusing to collaborate with Alabama in these discriminatory enforcement actions,” said Margaret Huang, the executive director of Rights Working Group.

“DHS, under Secretary Napolitano’s leadership, should stand firm with the Justice Department against Alabama’s HB 56, a law that promotes racial profiling and other human rights abuses of all Alabama residents,” said Huang.

ACLU Legislative Counsel Joanne Lin called on Napolitano to be more explicit about how DHS will respond to HB 56.

"Sec. Napolitano has testified that DHS will not assist in implementing HB 56, but has not explained what this means,” Lin said. “Six weeks after HB 56 went into effect, civil rights groups in Alabama and around the country are still waiting to hear whether DHS is doing anything differently in Alabama today. DHS cannot continue its normal operations in Alabama without aiding in the enforcement of a state law that the Justice Department has challenged as unconstitutional. The Obama administration must take all necessary actions to ensure that DHS does not detain or deport anyone whose civil rights have been violated under HB 56."

Formed in the aftermath of 9/11, Rights Working Group is a coalition of more than 300 community-based, grassroots and national organizations working to restore civil liberties and human rights protections for all people living in the U.S.