Immigration advocates speak against Alabama enforcement bill
Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, greets a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama House committee held a public hearing on Wednesday for an immigration bill that had already been approved by another committee weeks before.
HB 7, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, allows local law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with the federal government to enforce federal immigration laws.
'We have worked extensively with law enforcement, ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency), the Speaker's Office, and the DA's Office,' Yarbrough told the House Judiciary Committee said to the committee prior to the start of the public hearing. 'This bill will allow state and local law enforcement to enter into an MOU with the federal government to enforce already-existing immigration laws. There are no new laws created.'
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The bill drew strong criticism from immigrant rights groups, saying it was aimed at creating fear among the state's foreign-born communities.
'It destroys community trust in enforcement agencies at the state and local level,' said Andrea Hayes in an interview following the public hearing, a projects and grant manager with the Tuscaloosa Latino Coalition, an organization that provides support to Hispanic communities. 'It rips away trust from immigrant communities if they are going to be afraid that they are going to be deported.'
Hayes said the anticipated passage of the bill has led to truancy among children afraid to attend school because of fear that members of their family will be sent away.
Other speakers urged lawmakers on the committee to connect with individuals that this bill would affect to get a better understanding of their lives.
'I think they are portraying us as criminals who are only here to do wrongdoings in this country, which is extremely far from the truth,' said Jasmin Hernandez-Alamillo about lawmakers in an interview following the public hearing, a Birmingham resident and daughter of Mexican immigrants.
Hernandez-Alamillo said she works with immigrant communities and interacts with members of those communities regularly.
'They probably work harder than we will ever have to in our lives, if I am being completely honest,' she said. 'My mom, she cleans houses. My dad is a construction worker. I see how much they are beating their bodies up working in these fields. I know how my extended family works. I know how my community works. I know how hard they work to give back to our community, and it is just not fair to see them discount that and discredit their efforts to provide for themselves and their families.'
Judiciary is the second committee to consider the legislation after the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved the measure along party lines about a month ago.
This is the first time that this specific immigration legislation had to secure approval from two separate House committees after leaders re-referred the bill to a different committee before allowing it to move onto the House floor for consideration. It was not clear why the bill went through two committees. A bill authorizing medical cannabis in Alabama went through two committees in 2021 before being voted on in the chamber.
Yarbrough filed the same bill during the 2024 session, which was approved by the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee before moving on the House floor where it stalled.
Under the bill, sheriff's deputies, police officers and state troopers may arrest people based on their immigration status and detain them until they can determine their nationality. Law enforcement can then reach out to the federal government to verify the person's immigration status.
The Alabama Attorney General's Office may report which local law enforcement agencies do not comply with the provisions in the bill by publishing a news release to provide details of the violation.
Local law enforcement must also report to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency each year the number of foreign nationals they arrested and track the inquiries they submit to the federal government to confirm a person's immigration status
Civil rights groups have continuously expressed alarm with the legislation, saying the bill gives law enforcement license to profile citizens and will disproportionately affect minority communities.
Democrats on the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee had the same concerns several weeks ago.
The Judiciary Committee did not vote on the legislation on Wednesday.
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