8/6/2011
A legislation that aims to repeal the new anti-illegal immigrant law in Alabama is being planned by a state senator. Sen. Bill Beasley, a Democrat from Clayton, said Friday that the law is already having an effect on various businesses that hire immigrant labor.
According to Beasley, the law is draconian and is not good for the residents of Alabama. “This comes at a time when we simply cannot afford it,” Beasley said. “There are also many Alabama businesses who hire Mexican workers, and the new law is already hurting them badly, I am told.”
On State House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s part, a Republican from Auburn, he said that the bill of Beasley is a “non-starter because it will not pass.”
The new immigration law is currently being challenged in a federal court.
Beasley also revealed that home and road builders, as well as farmers and other business owners, are telling him that they are already feeling the effects of the law in lesser potential employees. The state senator said, “I’ve had people tell me they’re leaving Alabama or going to other states or going back to Mexico.”
For his part, Hubbard said that Republicans have promised a stricter law to crack down on illegal immigration. He said, “We delivered on that promise.”
Hubbard also added, “It has always been against the law to hire an illegal immigrant. No business in any industry should depend on breaking the law to make a profit.”
Beasley had said that the economic cost of the measure “will be huge” for the state and the local governments that will have to shell out millions of dollars in enforcing it. “This issue is one that should be handled by the federal government and not by individual states,” he said in a statement.
