Ruling expected on Alabama's tough new immigration law

Alabama Immigration Law ProtestParticipants in a protest against Alabama's new law against illegal immigration march through Linn Park, Saturday, June 25, 2011, in Birmingham, Ala. and makes it a crime to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, rent them places to live or give them rides. It also requires schools to determine the immigration status of their students and report it to the state, although children in the country illegally would not be refused enrollment. MAGS OUT (AP Photo/ The Birmingham News, Mark Almond)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn is expected to rule this morning on multiple challenges to Alabama's new immigration law.

Most aspects of the law were set to go into effect Sept. 1. But in late August, Blackburn

. She gave herself until today to rule on the three challenges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, by leaders of Alabama's Catholic, Episcopal and United Methodist churches, and by a roster of civil rights groups, unions and service organizations.

Kevin Johnson, an immigration law expert and dean of the University of California Davis School of Law, said the nation will be watching Blackburn's decision.

"Legislatures have been ready and willing to pass laws regulating immigration while federal courts have been just as eager to strike them down on the grounds that they intrude on the federal power to regulate immigration," Johnson said.

"The political process seems to be moving in one direction, while the federal courts try to rein them in."

Johnson also noted that 16 foreign nations, including Mexico and countries in Central and South America, have filed briefs arguing against the Alabama law.

It is also fair to assume this is just the first round in the fight over the law. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing a similar law from Georgia, is likely the next battleground.

The far-reaching measure was

in more than 140 years. It includes an array of criminal and civil penalties for illegal immigrants found in Alabama and those who work with or assist them.

The 72-page act asks state and local police to try to determine immigration status during routine traffic stops; it requires schools to seek information about immigration status of students; it bars renting property to or employing illegal immigrants; and it prohibits entering contracts or transporting or harboring someone who does not have proof of lawful immigration status.

Legislators and attorneys for Alabama have argued the federal government has not done enough to enforce immigration law and has essentially forced Alabama to act to protect the state's economy. Alabama legislators stressed that in passing the law, they were delivering on a campaign promise.

The U.S. Justice Department has argued the law usurps the federal government's constitutionally defined role in regulating immigration. The lawsuits argue Alabama's law will lead to racial profiling, unlawful searches and detention and violations of constitutional protections of due process and equal protection.

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