Just as they have in other states, a coalition of far-left groups have sued Alabama over that state's new Arizona-style immigration law. The groups involved in this case are the American Civil Liberties Union (also collaborated with the Mexican government on immigration), the Southern Poverty Law Center (at least an indirect link to that same government), the National Immigration Law Center, the Asian Law Caucus, and the Asian American Justice Center.

1. Excerpts from the press release are at [1], and a list of the attorneys involved is at [2].

2. See Georgia, Indiana, Utah, and Arizona for information on other suits by the same groups together with others.

3. As always, the best way to prevent suits like this is to use the question authority plan to discredit illegal immigration supporters. The ACLU is particularly vulnerable to being discredited due to them collaborating with the Mexican government in furtherance of illegal activity; see their name's link above.

4. Per this, the suit includes the following:

"HB56 is reminiscent of the worst aspects of Alaba­ma's history in its pervasive and systematic targeting of a class of persons through pu­nitive state laws that seek to render every aspect of daily life more difficult and less equal."

That's more than a bit telling. While illegal aliens are covered by most aspects of the U.S. Constitution and our laws, they don't have "equal" rights to citizens. The ACLU/SPLC/NILC mindset isn't just to ensure that illegal aliens' basic rights are protected while ushering them out of the U.S. Instead, they think that there should be no difference between citizens of the U.S. and citizens of foreign countries.

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[1] aclualabama.org/News/PressReleases/Highlights/070811.html

...The Alabama law chills children's access to public schools by requiring school officials to verify the immigration status of children and their parents; authorizes police to demand "papers" demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during traffic stops; and criminalizes Alabamians for ordinary, everyday interactions with undocumented individuals. The lawsuit charges that the extreme law endangers public safety, invites the racial profiling of Latinos, Asians and others who appear foreign to an officer, and interferes with federal law.

...The lawsuit charges that HB 56 is unconstitutional in that it unlawfully interferes with federal power and authority over immigration matters, in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution; subjects Alabamians?including countless U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents?to unlawful search and seizure, in violation of the Fourth Amendment; unlawfully deters immigrant families from enrolling their children in public schools; unconstitutionally bars many lawfully present immigrants from attending public colleges or universities in Alabama; and drastically restricts the right to enter into contracts.

"We have filed this lawsuit today because Alabama's immigration law is blatantly unconstitutional," said Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "This law revisits the state's painful racial past and tramples the rights of all Alabama residents. It should never become the law of the land."

..."Alabama has brazenly enacted this law despite the clear writing on the wall: Federal courts have stopped each and every one of these discriminatory laws from going into effect," said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "Local Alabama communities and people across the country are shocked and dismayed by the state's effort to erode our civil rights and fundamental American values. Just as we've stopped similar draconian laws in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia from going into effect, we will do so here in Alabama as well."

"If allowed to take effect, this law will deter parents from enrolling their children in schools, restrict the ability of individuals and businesses across Alabama to freely engage in commercial activities, and restrict ministers from fully administering to their parishioners' spiritual and other needs," said Linton Joaquin, general counsel of the National Immigration Law Center. "In short, Alabama's law will affect the daily lives of countless residents, native-born and foreign alike. Alabama cannot constitutionally turn teachers, landlords, and community members into de facto immigration enforcement agents. We look forward to adding HB 56 to the roster of discriminatory laws that have been blocked by federal courts."

"HB 56 is the harshest version of the SB1070 copycats we have seen so far," said Sin Yen Ling, senior staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus. "Requiring schools to verify a student's immigration status forces teachers to become law enforcement officers which is counterproductive to creating a positive learning environment. HB 56 should be struck down as unconstitutional."

"Alabama's HB 56 comes at the unacceptably high cost of sacrificing the U. S. Constitution. This law, if allowed to stand, will create a two-tiered system of justice in Alabama, which all Alabamians should fight against," said Olivia Turner, executive director, ACLU of Alabama. "In the nearly fifty years since the historical and worldwide movement for civil and human rights began in our state, real progress has been made. But this law threatens to pull us back to a dark and shameful past—and one in which all Alabamians were held back."

..."We are fearful that HB 56 will lead to another era in this state of racial profiling and discrimination and foster hate and separation, rather than welcoming and community-building," said John Pickens, executive director for Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "What we need is a comprehensive national immigration policy, and our state legislative leaders, and Governor Bentley, should be urging our congressional representatives in Washington to support comprehensive immigration reform, rather than spending time passing and trying to enforce piecemeal state immigration laws."

[2] The lawyers involved:
SPLC: Sam Brooke, Andrew Turner, Michelle LaPointe, Dan Werner, Naomi Tsu
ACLU: Katherine Desormeau, Kenneth Sugarman, Andre Segura, Elora Mukherjee, Omar Jadwat, Lee Gelernt, Michael Tan, Freddy Ruibio
NILC: Karen Tumlin, Tanya Broder, Shiu Ming Cheer, Melissa Keaney, Vivek Mittal
ALC: Sin Yen Ling
AAJC: Erin Oshiro
other: Brian Spears, Ben Bruner, Herman Watson, Eric Artrip, Rebekah Keith McKinney