Victory in Alabama! Judge Upholds Key Parts of Immigration Law

On September 28, 2011, in news, by velvethammer

Finally, some good news.

(Washington Times) A federal judge on Wednesday said Alabama law enforcement officers can try to check the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, but blocked other parts of the state’s new crackdown law, which is the toughest in the country.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn said Alabama is allowed to tread anywhere that federal law doesn’t explicitly prohibit states from acting, which means the state can enact its own penalties for immigrants who fail to carry their registration papers, and can enable its state and local police to check immigration status.
……
And in a key part of her ruling, Judge Blackburn said the state can require schools to determine the legal status of students’ parents, though children of illegal immigrants may not be denied attendance.

But the judge did block four parts of Alabama’s law that she said go beyond what federal law allows: One provision created a civil action against employers who hired illegal immigrants over legal workers; another banned illegal immigrants from applying for a job; one made it a crime to harbor an illegal immigrant; and the other prohibited businesses from claiming tax deductions on wages paid to illegal immigrants.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley called the decision vindication for the state, and promised to appeal those parts of the law that were blocked.

“This fight is just beginning,” he said. “I am optimistic that this law will be completely upheld, and I remain committed to seeing this law fully implemented. I will continue to fight at every turn to defend this law against any and all challenges.”
……
In addition to its law enforcement provisions, the Alabama law requires all businesses to use E-Verify, a national database run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that allows employers to check potential hires’ Social Security numbers to see if they are authorized to work.

Continue reading >>>

posted in:  Ironic Surrealism

Federal judge rules terror-linked CAIR, other Muslims can’t see FBI files

Posted on April 28, 2011 by creeping

via Federal judge rules Muslims can’t see FBI files – Forbes.com.

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a group of Muslim activists and organizations cannot review additional records of FBI inquiries into their activities but berated the government for misleading the court about the existence of the files.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney said six Muslim groups and five individuals who sued in 2007 to gain access to records they believed the FBI was keeping do not have a right to much of the information because of national security concerns.

The ruling came amid a nearly five-year battle by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Muslim activists to obtain files they believe would show the FBI has been unlawfully targeting Muslims in Southern California.

Carney reached his decision after privately reviewing more than 100 pages of documents to ensure the government had complied with Freedom of Information laws in denying access to plaintiffs.

In his 18-page ruling, Carney declined to reveal the number or nature of the records the FBI kept on the plaintiffs, citing national security concerns.

He also reached the conclusion that federal government attorneys initially misled the court about the existence of the documents.

The case is one of several that highlight widespread concern among Muslim-Americans that the FBI has been spying on them.

Such concerns were heightened in 2009 when an FBI agent testified in court that an informant had been planted at an Islamic Center in Orange County. The informant provided information about the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard, who was arrested on charges of lying on his citizenship application. The government later dropped the charges.

In 2007, the Muslim activists and organizations, including the Islamic Shura Council and Council on American-Islamic Relations, sued the FBI alleging the agency failed to turn over records they had requested a year earlier related to their own activities.

The FBI released some records to the plaintiffs but redacted large portions of the documents, claiming the material was beyond the scope of their Freedom of Information Act request.

In 2009, Carney told the FBI to turn over the files to him so he could determine whether there was a valid reason for the redactions. He also ordered the agency to expand its records search for CAIR and its executive director for the greater Los Angeles area since only four pages of files had been produced.

Carney reviewed those files and wrote an order that was going to be made public, but was blocked by a federal government appeal.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that Carney should rewrite his order to remove references considered sensitive by the federal government.

Ahilan Arulanantham, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California, said he was disappointed by the judge’s ruling and concerned about the government’s behavior.

No concern over the government’s refusal to indict Hamas-linked CAIR though.

Related: Convicted felon is foundation of CAIR lawsuit against FBI