How America's Harshest Immigration Law Failed

How America's Harshest Immigration Law Failed
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Members of the Rainy Day Patriots, a Tea Party group from Alabama, display a message during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Conservative activists and supporters rallied against the Senate's immigration legislation and the impact illegal immigration has on reduced wages and employment opportunities for some Americans. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Members of the Rainy Day Patriots, a Tea Party group from Alabama, display a message during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Conservative activists and supporters rallied against the Senate's immigration legislation and the impact illegal immigration has on reduced wages and employment opportunities for some Americans. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Illegal is illegal.” With that rallying cry, Alabama passed HB 56 in 2011, the harshest state immigration law in the country.

The lead sponsor of the bill boasted to state representatives that the law “attacks every aspect of an illegal alien’s life.” Among its key provisions: landlords were banned from renting homes to undocumented immigrants, schools had to check students’ legal status, and police were required to arrest suspected immigration violators. Even giving unauthorized immigrants a ride became a crime.

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