Federal lawyers and a coalition of civil rights groups asked a federal judge Wednesday to block Alabama’s new immigration law from taken effect, saying it infringes on basic rights like free speech and free travel, the Associated Press reported.
But attorneys for the state argue that the new law gives the state the ability to regulate illegal immigration at a time when the federal government refuses to act and that opponents of the law have overestimated the its ramifications.
At a hearing before District Judge Sharon Blackburn, Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General William Orrick urged Blackburn to block sections of the law that he said conflict with federal law.
“There’s no room for the states to be legislating in this area,” Orrick said, according to the AP.
Among its effects, Orrick said a part of the law that requires schools to report the immigration status of students would discourage parents from sending their children there.
He argued the law criminalizes people who rent houses or provide transportation to undocumented immigrants, adding that the law harms the U.S.’s reputation with other countries.
“It corrodes the reputation of the United States for American values like openness and welcoming others,” Orrick said.
But Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange argued that the law wasn’t a sign that the state was trying to discourage foreigners from coming to the state, pointing to the state’s recent recruitment of foreign-owned businesses like Hyundai from South Korea and Mercedes from Germany.
Strange also said the law’s opponents have exaggerated predictions of what will happen if the law takes effect as planned on Sept. 1.
Blackburn repeatedly interrupted the attorneys and suggested that she would provide an in-depth examination of the issues in her written ruling, but she didn’t say when the ruling would come, according to the AP.
