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Beverly Hills, California, United States
Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Solis Slams Alabama Immigration Law

Politico: In a sharply worded blog post, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis - a top White House liaison to the Hispanic community - slams the tough Alabama immigration law as "beneath the dignity of this great nation," and calls out the state's Republican governor by name:

In a widely noticed human rights speech this month in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton articulated U.S. policy on the fundamental rights of all people living in the world.

She said, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights -… rights are not conferred by government; they are the birthright of all people. It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them."

"These basic rights extend to immigrants living in Alabama."

This April, Alabama legislators voted to make it a felony punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison for any undocumented immigrant living in the state to enter into a "business transaction." That means signing a lease for an apartment or paying a utility bill.

By June, Governor Robert Bentley had signed H.B. 56 into law.

"Imprisoning those who seek shelter and basic sustenance runs counter to the universal rights of all free people. It's beneath the dignity of this great nation."

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