Alabama won an important round in the effort to let states fight back against illegal immigration.
A federal judge agreed that schools can be required to check the immigration status of students. Police can check the citizenship of anyone driving without a license. And they can check the status of anyone who they have lawfully stopped. Alabama also can require foreign nationals to carry with them the papers that show their legal status.
The Obama Justice Department was challenging the law, and did get a few lesser provisions thrown out. But mostly the trial judge followed the standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, when they upheld an Arizona law aimed to combat illegal immigration.
Obama’s team will keep trying to block legal crackdowns by states. But this time they lost an important round in Alabama.
From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.