Montgomery Advertiser (Article by Brian Lyman): A Senate Republican considered key to passage of revisions to Alabama’s strict immigration law said Monday he expects the bill to come up for a vote this week.
Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, declined to discuss many details of the changes, but said he believes the law’s controversial “reasonable suspicion” provision — allowing law enforcement to check the status of those they believe may be in the country unlawfully — will be unchanged.
“I think everyone agrees that we can stay with what we had originally,” Beason said.
Beason and House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, co-sponsored last year’s law, known as HB 56. Both men have submitted separate revisions of the statute for consideration by the Legislature. Hammon'’s changes, which have the approval of Gov. Robert Bentley and GOP legislative leaders, passed the House of Representatives on April 19. Beason’'s revisions, which mostly keep the law unchanged, passed a Senate committee last month.
Hammon did not return a message seeking comment on Monday. Beason said the two men have been meeting to hammer out a compromise over the changes. He hoped to have them ready for review this morning, and on the floor of the Senate this evening or Wednesday.
The immigration law has drawn lawsuits from the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups, who say the law promotes racial profiling and violates federal statutes. Opponents of HB 56 say the changes will not remove their objections to the law, and could bring new lawsuits.
Hammon and Beason’'s revisions, while keeping the law in place, take different approaches to changing it. Hammon’'s bill, known as HB 658, initially limited the “reasonable suspicion” provision to arrests and traffic citations, but extended it to include passengers in a stopped vehicle. That section was amended in committee with language Hammon said mirrored wording allowing officers to check passengers for drugs during traffic stops.
Other areas took a slight step away from the harsher provisions of the law. Hammon’'s bill would give judges some flexibility in imposing penalties on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented aliens. The changes also strike out language that ban undocumented aliens from renting property. Another provision that authorized schools to gather information on students’ immigration status would be replaced with a requirement for schools to compile reports on the cost of educating undocumented aliens.
Beason has suggested Hammon'’s bill weakened the law, and submitted his own revisions shortly before the House passed HB 658. Beason'’s proposal imitated a proposal in Hammon'’s that would allow undocumented aliens to apply for marriage licenses, and adds “from detection” to a provision banning individuals from “harboring” or “concealing” undocumented aliens.
Otherwise, Beason’'s revisions would leave most of the law intact, including the “reasonable suspicion” language. Beason said Monday he believes last month’s arguments over a similar provision in Arizona’s law before the U.S. Supreme Court had boosted support for keeping that language intact.
I think reasonable suspicion is standard operating procedure, and it’s self-explanatory,” he said.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said Monday morning he had not been involved with the discussions and did not know the extent of the changes. But he said the bill would move once Beason approves.
Scott said he’s going to go over the legislation, and if it’s at a point that he likes where it’s at, we’ll bring Micky’s bill to the floor, and Scott will sub his bill,” Marsh said.
Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, declined to discuss many details of the changes, but said he believes the law’s controversial “reasonable suspicion” provision — allowing law enforcement to check the status of those they believe may be in the country unlawfully — will be unchanged.
“I think everyone agrees that we can stay with what we had originally,” Beason said.
Beason and House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, co-sponsored last year’s law, known as HB 56. Both men have submitted separate revisions of the statute for consideration by the Legislature. Hammon'’s changes, which have the approval of Gov. Robert Bentley and GOP legislative leaders, passed the House of Representatives on April 19. Beason’'s revisions, which mostly keep the law unchanged, passed a Senate committee last month.
Hammon did not return a message seeking comment on Monday. Beason said the two men have been meeting to hammer out a compromise over the changes. He hoped to have them ready for review this morning, and on the floor of the Senate this evening or Wednesday.
The immigration law has drawn lawsuits from the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups, who say the law promotes racial profiling and violates federal statutes. Opponents of HB 56 say the changes will not remove their objections to the law, and could bring new lawsuits.
Hammon and Beason’'s revisions, while keeping the law in place, take different approaches to changing it. Hammon’'s bill, known as HB 658, initially limited the “reasonable suspicion” provision to arrests and traffic citations, but extended it to include passengers in a stopped vehicle. That section was amended in committee with language Hammon said mirrored wording allowing officers to check passengers for drugs during traffic stops.
Other areas took a slight step away from the harsher provisions of the law. Hammon’'s bill would give judges some flexibility in imposing penalties on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented aliens. The changes also strike out language that ban undocumented aliens from renting property. Another provision that authorized schools to gather information on students’ immigration status would be replaced with a requirement for schools to compile reports on the cost of educating undocumented aliens.
Beason has suggested Hammon'’s bill weakened the law, and submitted his own revisions shortly before the House passed HB 658. Beason'’s proposal imitated a proposal in Hammon'’s that would allow undocumented aliens to apply for marriage licenses, and adds “from detection” to a provision banning individuals from “harboring” or “concealing” undocumented aliens.
Otherwise, Beason’'s revisions would leave most of the law intact, including the “reasonable suspicion” language. Beason said Monday he believes last month’s arguments over a similar provision in Arizona’s law before the U.S. Supreme Court had boosted support for keeping that language intact.
I think reasonable suspicion is standard operating procedure, and it’s self-explanatory,” he said.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said Monday morning he had not been involved with the discussions and did not know the extent of the changes. But he said the bill would move once Beason approves.
Scott said he’s going to go over the legislation, and if it’s at a point that he likes where it’s at, we’ll bring Micky’s bill to the floor, and Scott will sub his bill,” Marsh said.
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