Settlement Will Block Key Portions Of Alabama's Anti-Immigrant Law
flickr: Cuauhtemoc-Hidalgo Villa-Zapata
Some good news for Alabama? Civil rights groups and the state of Alabama have reached a settlement that will block key parts of Alabama's anti-immigrant HB 56.
### via Washington Post
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The state of Alabama agreed Tuesday to settle the remaining challenges over its toughest-in-the-nation crackdown against illegal immigration, which has mostly been gutted by federal court decisions.
The state and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a proposed settlement that would end a federal lawsuit over the law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011, and the state separately filed documents to end a similar suit filed by the Justice Department. Federal courts later blocked main sections, including a one-of-a-kind provision that public schools must check students’ citizenship status.
House democrats introduce immigration reform bill
Is the bill dead on arrival. Let us know your thought in the comments below.
### via David Nakamura | Wash Po
House Democrats released their own comprehensive immigration proposal Wednesday, hoping to keep pressure on Republicans to move forward on stalled plans to overhaul the nation's border control laws.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and several other Democrats announced the plans at a news conference on Capitol Hill on a day when nearly all the focus was on the budget fight and government shutdown. The lawmakers emphasized that immigration remains an imperative issue and hoped that the House's GOP leadership would put legislation forward for a vote before the end of the year.
[VIDEO] Steve King: Undocumented Immigrants Killed More Americans Than 9/11 Attacks
Statement starts around 5:45
California Lawmakers OK Driver's Licenses For Undocumented Immigrants
It just needs the Governor's signature!
### via LA TIMES
SACRAMENTO — Laboring late into the night Thursday to finish their work for the year, state lawmakers acted to allow many more immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain California driver's licenses, a measure Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign.
A flurry of additional proposals sent to the governor would also affect immigrants, as well as gun users, teachers and job applicants. In addition, nannies, private healthcare aides and some other domestic workers would receive overtime pay under bill also headed for the governor's desk.
Newark Police to refuse to detain undocumented immigrants accused of minor crimes
(flickr: scsmith4)
Add another big city to the list of those who reject Secure Communities!
### via nj.com
The Newark Police Department has become the first law enforcement agency in New Jersey to refuse the federal government’s requests to detain people accused of minor crimes who are suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, according to immigration advocates.
In enacting the policy, Newark becomes the latest city to opt out of the most controversial part of the “Secure Communities” program implemented by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in 2011, which allows the agency to ask local police to hold any suspect for up to 48 hours if their immigration status is called into question.
READ MORE AT NJ.com
New Orleans Sheriffs Defy ICE, Will Reject ICE Detention Holds
(facebook: Congress of Day Laborers)
New Orleans Sheriffs set a high bar today. This is what great community organizing and consensus looks like. Let us know your thoughts below.
### via NYT
NEW ORLEANS — The Orleans Parish sheriff will no longer honor many requests from the federal immigration authorities to detain people who are suspected of being here illegally, making New Orleans one of a growing number of jurisdictions to adopt such a policy and the first to do so in the Deep South
The policy, articulated in filings that accompanied a legal settlement in federal court, is similar to others that have been instituted since 2011 by Chicago, New York and Washington, several counties and the State of Connecticut.
READ MORE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
Immigrants Rebuild After Moore, Okla. Tornado
Immigrants were in New Orleans after Katrina, in New York after Sandy, so it comes as little surpirse that immigrants are a contributing force in efforts to rebuild Oklahoma after the Moore Tornado.
### via NPR
Pastor Chano Najera calls out T-shirt sizes in Spanglish to volunteers waiting for their uniforms.
It's easy to spot Najera in this crowd — just look for the cowboy hat. He preaches in Spanish at Templo De Alabanza in Oklahoma City. On this morning, though, he's wrangling a group of young Latino volunteers as they wheel cases of water bottles onto trucks headed for Moore, Okla., where an EF-5 tornado ripped through neighborhoods last week, but spared Najera's home.
