Immigration law has Ala. cops wary

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Chris West, police chief of a small town in the Appalachian foothills of Alabama, didn’t know what to do about checking the immigration status of a Hispanic man his department recently arrested on an old warrant.

So he didn’t do anything.

Alabama’s strict new immigration law, which was largely upheld Wednesday by a federal judge, requires police to jail anyone who can’t prove he or she is in the country legally.

Much of the law goes into effect immediately, but that doesn’t mean there will be mass roundups of thousands of illegal immigrants anytime soon.

Across Alabama, police charged with enforcing the nation’s toughest law targeting illegal immigrants are trying to figure out how to enforce the law and pay for it.

The law is described by both supporters and opponents as the toughest state law in the U.S. targeting illegal immigrants.