Cineo Gonzales, Latino Father In Alabama Claims His Daughter, An American Citizen, Was 'Singled Out' Due To HB56

Cineo Gonzales says his daughter, an American citizen, came home from school with a paper explaining HB56, Alabama's new immigration law thought to be the toughest in the country. Her teacher, Gonzales says, handed the document to his daughter and the only other Latino student in front of their class.

Gonzales says in the ACLU interview above that when he asked school officials why his daughter was given the paper, she explained they were giving it to “all children who aren’t from here.” He says that he fears Alabama's new law is encouraging a climate of racism and racial profiling.

The new Alabama law, HB56, requires that all schools verify the immigration status of children enrolling for the first time. State education officials estimated that over 2,000 latino students -- or about 7 percent of Latino students -- were absent from Alabama schools on the first day the new law came into effect.

"My daughter is being singled out and racial profiled and discriminated because of her color and race and origin from where they think she is from," he says in the above interview with ACLU.