Montgomery, AL – The Alabama House has moved an Arizona-style bill to crackdown on illegal immigration to within one step of final passage.
The House voted 67-29 Thursday in favor of a compromise version of the proposed legislation. The House and Senate initially passed different versions.
The version approved by the House had been worked out by a conference committee. It now goes back to the Senate.
The House sponsor, Republican Rep. Micky Hammon of Decatur, said the compromise restores language in his original bill calling for employers to use a federal system called E-Verify to determine if new employees are legally in the United States.
The bill also makes it a crime to transport or harbor illegal immigrants. It prevents cities from passing laws that would protect illegal immigrants in their cities.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)