Hispanic students vanish from Alabama schools

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/hispanic-students-vanish-alabama-schools-184555038.html;_ylt=Ah0zDIW03Fcw8QmHdvVFqXdtzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTRoY3RnZXB2BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDIwMHBvb2xyZXN0BG1pdANOZXdzIGZvciB5b3UEcGtnAzNhNGNlZTRkLTY5MjAtMzFhMS1iZTM5LWQxMzlmYzAxNjc1YQRwb3MDMwRzZWMDbmV3c19mb3JfeW91BHZlcgM4YjkwNjIwMC1lYmI4LTExZTAtYWZiNy0xNzExMmNiYjdmMjU-;_ylg=X3oDMTJsNHVyYzcxBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNTFlN2ZhZTUtOTEzOS0zOTdhLTg1ZjItZjhiNTc0MzIyMzZkBHBzdGNhdAN1cwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

By JAY REEVES - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 25 mins ago

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) — Hispanic students have started vanishing from Alabama public schools in the wake of a court ruling that upheld the state's tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration.

Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities.

There are no precise statewide numbers. But several districts with large immigrant enrollments — from small towns to large urban districts — reported a sudden exodus of children of Hispanic parents, some of whom told officials they planned to leave the state to avoid trouble with the law, which requires schools to check students' immigration status.

The anxiety has become so intense that the superintendent in one of the state's largest cities, Huntsville, went on a Spanish-language television show Thursday to try to calm widespread worries.

"In the case of this law, our students do not have anything to fear," Casey Wardynski said in halting Spanish. He urged families to send students to class and explained that the state is only trying to compile statistics.

Police, he insisted, were not getting involved in schools.

Victor Palafox graduated from a high school in suburban Birmingham last year and has lived in the United States without documentation since age 6, when his parents brought him and his brother here from Mexico.

"Younger students are watching their lives taken from their hands," said Palafox, whose family is staying put.

In Montgomery County, more than 200 Hispanic students were absent the morning after the judge's Wednesday ruling. A handful withdrew.

In tiny Albertville, 35 students withdrew in one day. And about 20 students in Shelby County, in suburban Birmingham, either withdrew or told teachers they were leaving.

Local and state officials are pleading with immigrant families to keep their children enrolled. The law does not ban anyone from school, they say, and neither students nor parents will be arrested for trying to get an education.

But many Spanish-speaking families aren't waiting around to see what happens.

A school worker in Albertville — a community with a large poultry industry that employs many Hispanic workers — said Friday that many families might leave town over the weekend for other states. About 22 percent of the community's 4,200 students are Hispanic.

"I met a Hispanic mother in the hallway at our community learning center this morning, where enrollment and withdrawal happens. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I asked, 'Are you leaving?' She said 'Yes,' and hugged me, crying," said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not an authorized spokeswoman.

In Russellville, which has one of the largest immigrant populations in the state because of its poultry plants, overall school attendance was down more than 2 percent after the ruling, and the rate was higher among Hispanic students.

There's "no firm data yet, but several students have related to their teachers that they may be moving soon," said George Harper, who works in the central office.

Schools in Baldwin County, a heavily agricultural and tourist area near the Gulf Coast, and in Decatur in the Tennessee Valley also reported sudden decreases in Hispanic attendance.

The law does not require proof of citizenship to enroll, and it does not apply to any students who were enrolled before Sept. 1. While most students are not affected, school systems are supposed to begin checking the status of first-time enrollees now.

The Obama administration filed court documents Friday announcing its plans to appeal the ruling that upheld the law.

The state has distributed to schools sample letters that can be sent to parents of new students informing them of the law's requirements for either citizenship documents or sworn statements by parents.

In an attempt to ease suspicions that the law may lead to arrests, the letter tells parents immigration information will be used only to gather statistics.

"Rest assured," the letter states, "that it will not be a problem if you are unable or unwilling to provide either of the documents."

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-appeals-alabama-immigration-law-220502628.html

Obama administration appeals Alabama immigration law

By Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by Anthony Boadle | Reuters – 2 hrs 25 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday asked a federal appeals court to block Alabama's strict new anti-illegal immigration law after a federal judge allowed key portions to take effect.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn earlier this week backed the law authorizing police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

The judge also upheld a provision that permits the state to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children. Federal judges in other states have blocked similar state laws aimed at trying to stem illegal immigration.

The Justice Department filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, and also asked Blackburn to put her ruling on hold pending that appeal.

The administration argued that the U.S. Constitution made immigration a federal matter that "cannot be subject to a patchwork of state measures. Alabama thus has no authority to regulate in the area of immigration."

Several states have passed legislation to beef up laws to deter illegal immigrants, arguing that the Obama administration has not done enough to stop their flow into the country.

There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Arizona adopted its own tough law but the Obama administration successfully sued to block it. Efforts to more broadly address illegal immigration in the U.S. Congress have gone nowhere.

Blackburn temporarily barred Alabama from making it a crime to knowingly transport or harbor an illegal immigrant or prohibiting illegal immigrants from attending its public colleges.

She also allowed provisions that bar illegal immigrants from commercial contracts with the state or local governments, applying for or renewing drivers' licenses and identification cards or seeking license plates.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

California could learn a thing or two from states like Alabama and Arizona.

Edited October 1, 2011 by Why_Me

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Lucky for the Hispanic students. Now they have a chance to get a good education.

[MyLittlePony 340]

They took our jobs.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

They took our jobs.

Maybe yours. They did not take mine.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I'm sure their parents pay a heavy school tax. Nothing like subsidizing illegals with my tax dollars.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Maybe yours. They did not take mine.

They take the jobs from the lazy white people wont do and the white people complain about taking there jobs.

[mawilson 2,133]

Poor Alabama. How did they survive without Hispanics?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

They take the jobs from the lazy white people wont do and the white people complain about taking there jobs.

They take construction jobs, resteraunt jobs, etc... A resteraunt was busted by ICE in Arizona a few months back, people lined up the next day to apply for those jobs...legal Americans. Employers pay no tax, no insurance, no nothing on illegal labor.

Anyone that says they don't take jobs and/or cost this country is full of #######.

[Pooky 3,348]

Proof that if you provide a disincentive to the illegal immigrants, they are likely to move by themselves. Provide sufficient disincentive, across the whole country, and we might find that the illegal immigrant issue is not as unsolvable as it first appears.

And this isn't even something made a criminal offence. Illegal immigrant children are not breaking the law by attending school, yet families are still deserting Alabama.

[Danno 1,228]

Lucky for the Hispanic students. Now they have a chance to get a good education.

Coming from countryside of Mexico.... they thought the Alabama school system was Harvard.

[Ready to do it 101]

No joke. Alabama lol.

I understand why they are leaving. No one wants to be a "statistic," come out and register as being illegal, etc. End of the day, guess who probably will suffer the most? Alabama b/c they will lose so much federal funding because they don't have all those kids that just withdrew. I'm going to laugh my a** off if we hear how bankrupt Alabama is in the next 6-12 months.

The illegals? They'll find new schools in different states and the parents will find new jobs. It's just kind of sad that all those kids have to leave all their friends. It's a disgrace some of the lengths states are going to, truly ripping some families apart and turning lives upside down.

Lucky for the Hispanic students. Now they have a chance to get a good education.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

No joke. Alabama lol.

I understand why they are leaving. No one wants to be a "statistic," come out and register as being illegal, etc. End of the day, guess who probably will suffer the most? Alabama b/c they will lose so much federal funding because they don't have all those kids that just withdrew. I'm going to laugh my a** off if we hear how bankrupt Alabama is in the next 6-12 months.

The illegals? They'll find new schools in different states and the parents will find new jobs. It's just kind of sad that all those kids have to leave all their friends. It's a disgrace some of the lengths states are going to, truly ripping some families apart and turning lives upside down.

What's even a bigger disgrace is their parents chose to break the laws of the United States of America and enter this country illegally forcing an unwanted and unauthorized burden on the legal citizens of the United States of America that pay the taxes to keep this country running.

Seeing you mentioned federal funding for those schools, where do you think that money comes from? Trees? Try US tax payers.

If I had my way it would be a shoot on site in regards to illegal border crossings.

Edited October 1, 2011 by Why_Me

[Ready to do it 101]

You don't have your way. You'd really stoop to murder?

Why are you so focused on pointing out the unwanted burden illegals cause on the system when there are so many more USC's that are a bigger burden. Many illegals are not a burden on the system. Many illegals pay taxes. Many illegals have paid more taxes into the system than many USCs. I don't hear you yapping about all the USC's milking the system. Get them off the govt's ####### and it'll help our crisis much more than getting all the illegals off the US govt's #######. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at your govt and CEO's of corporate giants who sold out the American worker... not the little guy illegal who is just trying to survive who puts in an honest days work. I understand your anger, but take it out on the right people. For hundreds of years we have quietly "wanted" illegals to come to the US. you might not have, but our govt and big corporations have. They sold the American worker out by outsourcing jobs, the economy tanks because of wars and you want to blame it on the illegal. They're your scapegoat. Illegals aren't the problem. Honestly, the only people unemployed are the ones who's jobs were outsourced, those that are undesirable to employ, or those that don't have the education or skills to adapt to fill the positions that companies need. If every illegal left this country would be doomed as 30 million consumers just went out the door, not to mention... what 5 million more foreclosures on the books assuming about 1/5 to 1/6 of them have mortgages on their homes. That's going to help the economy out, aint it?

What's even a bigger disgrace is their parents chose to break the laws of the United States of America and enter this country illegally forcing an unwanted and unauthorized burden on the legal citizens of the United States of America that pay the taxes to keep this country running.

Seeing you mentioned federal funding for those schools, where do you think that money comes from? Trees? Try US tax payers.

If I had my way it would be a shoot on site in regards to illegal border crossings.

Edited October 1, 2011 by Ready to do it