The Gadsden Times (Editorial): The "nation's toughest immigration law" was a politically popular choice as it made its way through the Alabama Legislature this year. HB56 passed by wide margins in the Senate and House, and its passage was hailed as a great event for the state. It may yet turn out that way, but some of the luster seems to have faded from the law.
Gov. Robert Bentley, a staunch defender of the bill early on, last week said he has turned down several requests for interviews from national news organizations because he doesn't want to be the "face of illegal immigration bills in the country ..."
Federal courts are picking the law to pieces, blocking several sections, and each time the headlines reinforce what many see as the negative side of the bill. Some cheer Alabama's hard-line stance, but others harken back to darker days for the state, with images of then-Gov. George Wallace blocking the schoolhouse door and Bull Connor bullying blacks in Birmingham being brought to mind. Coupled with stories about law enforcement officers not knowing how to enforce the law, about crops going unpicked and about legal immigrants fleeing the state because they fear harassment, the state's image has been tarnished in some quarters.
Bentley says he pushed for the immigration bill because of inaction by the federal government on the issue, but it's hard not to wonder if one of the unintended consequences we read so much about will be a blow to the state's recruitment of international businesses. Alabama has had a great record of attracting major industries from around the world, but some companies likely will look elsewhere because they don't want any negative connotation attached to their image because they located here.
Bentley knows that passage of the bill has, for many, cast the state in a negative light and said that was why he has turned down media requests. "... I don't want to add fuel to the fire across the country where people continue to look at Alabama in a negative light," he said, adding that many people think the state still is in the civil rights era.
It's unfortunate that Bentley and others didn't have the foresight to know that there were other avenues the state could have taken to spur federal action and also to enforce immigration laws effectively without going as far as it did. The criticism may not have reached firestorm levels, but it certainly has brought Alabama to the forefront of national publicity -- for better or for worse depending on your view of the new law.
Gov. Robert Bentley, a staunch defender of the bill early on, last week said he has turned down several requests for interviews from national news organizations because he doesn't want to be the "face of illegal immigration bills in the country ..."
Federal courts are picking the law to pieces, blocking several sections, and each time the headlines reinforce what many see as the negative side of the bill. Some cheer Alabama's hard-line stance, but others harken back to darker days for the state, with images of then-Gov. George Wallace blocking the schoolhouse door and Bull Connor bullying blacks in Birmingham being brought to mind. Coupled with stories about law enforcement officers not knowing how to enforce the law, about crops going unpicked and about legal immigrants fleeing the state because they fear harassment, the state's image has been tarnished in some quarters.
Bentley says he pushed for the immigration bill because of inaction by the federal government on the issue, but it's hard not to wonder if one of the unintended consequences we read so much about will be a blow to the state's recruitment of international businesses. Alabama has had a great record of attracting major industries from around the world, but some companies likely will look elsewhere because they don't want any negative connotation attached to their image because they located here.
Bentley knows that passage of the bill has, for many, cast the state in a negative light and said that was why he has turned down media requests. "... I don't want to add fuel to the fire across the country where people continue to look at Alabama in a negative light," he said, adding that many people think the state still is in the civil rights era.
It's unfortunate that Bentley and others didn't have the foresight to know that there were other avenues the state could have taken to spur federal action and also to enforce immigration laws effectively without going as far as it did. The criticism may not have reached firestorm levels, but it certainly has brought Alabama to the forefront of national publicity -- for better or for worse depending on your view of the new law.
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