Montgomery, AL – The American Civil Liberties Union says the immigration bill passed by the Alabama Legislature is a throwback to segregation and the organization will challenge it in court if the governor signs it into law.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Robert Bentley says he will spend the weekend reviewing the legislation, but passing a strong bill on illegal immigration has been among his top priorities.
The House passed the bill 67-29 and the Senate 25-7 Thursday night. It allows police who make a traffic stop to detain people if they can't produce any papers and the police have reasonable suspicion that they may be illegal.
The director of ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, Cecilia Wang, says the Legislature has invited rank discrimination into people's everyday lives.
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