Alabama Republicans Seek Arizona-Style Immigration Law

At La Miochoana Dos in Robertsdale, not a lot of people want an Arizona-style immigration law in Alabama. Marysol Tolyas helps Spanish speaking immigrants--both documented and undocumented.

“They are not killers, the just want to send some food back to their families in Mexico, so I don't think they're doing any bad to anybody,” says Tolyas. In their handshake with Alabama--one of the five legislative items Republicans want is an Arizona style measure on illegal immigration.

“The operative word here is illegal and the federal government clearly is not going to do what it's supposed to do and protect our boarders,” says House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard. The “Handshake” is a list of items GOP members of both legislative houses in Montgomery want up for a vote as they vie for majority status. The immigration proposal would probably give local and state lawmen authority to ask someone about their citizenship status during the course of an investigation, like a traffic stop. While the measure has been met with both praise and protest in Arizona--the house minority leader says Alabama would welcome it.

“We have no problem with people being in our country and wanting a better life but there's a legal way and illegal way to do it and the illegal way is a problem,” says Hubbard. It would likely have support on the federal level from Senator Jeff Sessions. We talked to him on August 19th during a stop in Mobile.

“They should have mechanisms to turn them over to federal officials and we need to make sure that the federal officials respond and take those people,” says Sessions. Hubbard says they will push for their handshake platform whether or not they win a majority.