Alabama Won’t Publish Undocumented Immigrant List

A tentative agreement between state officials and civil liberties groups has prevented Alabama from publishing a list of undocumented immigrants living in the state. The agreement arose from a 2013 lawsuit, in which the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Law Center sued the state on behalf of four undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The suit was designed to stop a controversial 2011 law that would publish the names of undocumented immigrants on a state-run website.

Undocumented Immigrant Law And “Reasonable Suspicion”

The Alabama Law, known as HB 56, included a clause that called on the Administrative Office of Courts to assemble a list of undocumented immigrants who appeared in court and publish that list on the state’s Department of Homeland Security website. The law also included a provision that allows law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of suspected undocumented immigrants if they could show “reasonable suspicion” that the subjects were in the country illegally.

Undocumented Immigrants Detained Over Fishing License

The case involved four undocumented immigrants, all members of the same family, who were arrested in 2012 for violating the terms of their fishing licenses. One of the female undocumented immigrants was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department for two days. Federal officials determined that she was in the U.S. illegally, but did not follow through with deportation proceedings. The family contacted the legal activist groups to prevent having their names published on the state’s website, which would potentially damage their chances of gaining legal status and gainful employment.

Issues With Undocumented Immigrant List

The law that would have published the list of undocumented immigrants faced some serious logistical issues. The state’s Department of Homeland Security, now known as the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, claimed it had never received the list from the Administrative Office of Courts. In addition, the Administrative Office of Courts reportedly did not compile the list for the site to publish. The settlement now requires that the list of undocumented immigrants be kept confidential and only released by requests from federal law enforcement or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Source: Montgomery Advertiser

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