August 11, 2011
More than 90 advocacy groups and countries have filed briefs in opposition to Alabama’s new anti-immigrant law to highlight the harm they say harm the law will inflict across the state and the growing opposition to other anti-immigrant legislation nationwide. The groups include:
- The nations joining Mexico’s amicus curiae brief opposing the law include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing how the law will discourage the reporting of domestic violence and other violent crimes: Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Legal Momentum, ASISTA Immigration Assistance, the Victim Rights Law Center, Alianza Latina en contra de la Agresión Sexual (ALAS), American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Arte Sana, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,California Women’s Law Center, Break the Chain Campaign, Casa de Esperanza (Minnesota), Casa de Maryland, Inc., Central American Resource Center, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), Coalition of Labor Union Women, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc., Counsel of Mexican Federations in North America/Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamericana, Family Values @ Work Consortium, Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (IowaCASA), Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Nancy Kelly, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, National Association of Social Workers and the Alabama Chapter of NASW, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Council of Jewish Women, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center, Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, Inc., 9 to 5, National Association of Working Women, Raksha, South Asian Americans Leading Together, University of Cincinnati College of Law Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Voces de La Frontera, Washington Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing the law’s negative impact on individuals’ civil rights: the Alabama State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Alabama Council on Human Relations, Alabama New South Coalition, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Alabama NOW, Birmingham Peace Project, Dominican American National Roundtable, the National Dominican American Council, Equality Alabama, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund, Hispanic Federation, Immigration Equality, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Montgomery Improvement Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, National Council of La Raza, National Employment Law Project, National Guestworker Alliance, the National Immigration Law Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild, National Lawyers Guild, the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Society of American Law Teachers, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.
- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers signed a brief describing the threat posed to individuals’ constitutionally protected rights against prolonged detention, the fact that the law will deputize Alabama police officers as immigration agents in conflict with federal law and the law’s overall negative impact in criminal justice matters.
- The Alabama Education Association and the National Education Association signed a brief describing the law’s negative impact on Alabama educators, students and families.
- The following organizations signed briefs citing the law’s adverse impact on students who have limited English proficiency or are English language-learners: Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities, Hispanic College Fund, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Multicultural Education, Training & Advocacy, Inc. The brief asserts that HB 56 seeks to deter immigrant children from attending school because it requires educators to ascertain their families’ immigration status.
- The Anti-Defamation League signed a brief describing the law’s impact on victims of hate crimes.
- The following organizations signed a brief describing the law’s adverse impact on housing in Alabama: Central Alabama Fair Housing Center, Fair Housing Center of North Alabama, South Alabama Center for Fair Housing and the National Fair Housing Alliance.
- The American Immigration Lawyers Association signed a brief describing how the law is incompatible with existing federal immigration law.
