Almost all United States residents can agree that immigration reform is something that must happen in the future. However, the shape and design of the reforms themselves are hotly contested and have become one of the most controversial political topics throughout the entire country.
Proponents of US immigration reform must fall into one of two basic categories – those that wish to loosen the rules on immigrants (pro-immigrant), and those that wish to enforce stricter rules on immigrants (anti-immigrant). The battlefield for these two groups is the State Legislature and the courtroom, and at the current moment the anti-immigrant supporters are winning.
In 2010, the state of Arizona became the first of the 50 states to enact an anti-immigration law which would require police officers to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stop and who they suspect are in the country illegally. This law would consequently lead to the deportation of many illegal immigrants, and that is one of the main reasons it is now being challenged by the Federal Government in an ongoing court case.
However, the Federal Government’s challenge has not stopped other states from following Arizona’s lead. The southern states of Alabama and Georgia have also enacted anti-immigration laws in the past year, and some of these laws are even more forceful than Arizona’s controversial law. In Alabama, both schools and employers will soon be required to check if students and employees are in the United States legally. If they discover an illegal immigrant, the schools and the employers face criminal charges if they do not report the illegal immigrants to the appropriate authorities. Additionally, similar to Arizona’s law, people stopped by Alabama police for any reason could be arrested on suspicion of immigration violations. Many consider these new laws in Alabama to be the United States’ most restrictive against illegal immigration.
Despite the increasing number of these restrictive laws appearing throughout the country, the battle over immigration reform is just beginning. The enactment of these new laws has raised the ire of many pro-immigrant supporters, including the president of the United States, Barack Obama. As a result, not only is the Federal Government challenging these state-mandated laws, but advocacy groups are also forming all over the country to assist with the massive legal battle now looming.
The lives of millions of immigrants in the United States will be in the hands of a very small number of lawyers and judges. And it is their decisions alone that will likely determine if the Statue of Liberty will continue to represent an open invitation to immigrants, or if it will just become a reminder of the days when immigrants were once welcome.
All said and explained in this article does not constitute a legal opinion and does not replace legal advice. Responsibility for using the wordings and opinions conveyed in this article relies solely and entirely on the reader.
This article was written by Dotan Cohen Law Offices, working in the field of immigration law in the United States, Canada, Australia and England.