El Semanario - Ugly politics behind Alabama's anti-immigrant law

Despite soaring deficits, cuts in social services, worker layoffs and tornado-devastated communities, Alabama's first Republican-controlled government in 136 years has turned its focus on undocumented immigrants, raising questions about policymakers' priorities.
Governor Robert Bentley recently signed a tough anti-immigration law, the latest in a patchwork of similar legislation that has spread through Republican-dominated states this year, just as the importance of Latino voters in the 2012 presidential election is becoming clear.
Yet, Alabama has only a small percentage of undocumented immigrants � the Pew Hispanic Center estimates 2.5 percent of the state population and 4.2 percent of its workforce � and they pay sales tax just like everyone else, taxes that support schools, law enforcement and other services vital to the state.
The new law essentially turns educators, business owners, landlords and citizens into immigration officers, and punishes anyone caught hiring, housing or even giving a car ride to an undocumented person in the state. Most disturbing to some is that the legislation targets children.
Alabama school superintendents say they were caught off guard by a last-minute addition to the legislation requiring students to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when they enroll, and requiring schools to collect and file reports on undocumented students.
"Frustration is the key word," said Eric Mackey, executive director of the School Superintendents of Alabama. "I can tell you, I talk to superintendents every day, and the issue of undocumented students just doesn't come up," he said.
Although, under federal law, undocumented students can't be turned away from grade schools, superintendents worry that the new state law will discourage immigrant parents from enrolling their children.
"We don't want a chilling effect that causes children to be uneducated in America," said Mackey. Mackey points out that immigrants aren't freeloading or draining school resources.
More than 40 percent of Alabama's school funding comes from taxes that everyone pays � on groceries, cell phones, heating and air-conditioning, lights and, even, beer. And almost all the funding for English as a second language (ESL) programs in the state comes from federal sources.
House Bill 56, sponsored by Representative Micky Hammon, was sold to legislators as a jobs-creation action. Supporters argued that in a time of high unemployment, undocumented workers are taking jobs that would otherwise be done by Alabama citizens � an argument that has been debunked in numerous studies.
The new Alabama law requires immigrants to carry documents proving their ...

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