9:30 AM
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA -- America’s toughest immigration crackdown was meant to drive illegal workers from Alabama.
But after two employees with foreign automakers Mercedes-Benz and Honda were stopped by police in recent days, it is giving many pause for thought. The companies have poured billions of dollars of investment into the state.
Republican backers of the state crackdown say they have been talking to business leaders, and have been considering “tweaks” to some of the provisions of the law which came into force in September
“I’ve met with a lot of members of the business community... and yes that it is a concern about the image we are creating and does it affect economic development in our state,” J. T. “Jabo” Waggoner, the state’s Republican senate majority leader told Reuters. “But let me hasten to add, this is a federal issue that the federal government has refused to act on,” he added.
As Republican presidential candidates sparred over who can be tougher on immigration in recent weeks, Alabama experienced the downside of taking a hardline stance.
Although legally in the United States, German Mercedes-Benz executive Detlev Hager was arrested in Tuscaloosa in November after failing to provide a passport or driver’s license required by the law. The charges were later dropped.
Then this week, a Japanese worker assigned to the Honda assembly plant in nearby Lincoln was ticketed for not having proper identity documents.
The Alabama law, which was passed in June, requires police to detain people they suspect of being in the US illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason. A US appeals court has blocked Alabama from enforcing part of the new law, including a provision that permits Alabama to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children upon enrollment but left most of it untouched.
The recent incidents triggered dismay and ridicule in Alabama, where Mercedes-Benz opened a plant in 1993, and was followed by Honda, Hyundai and Toyota. The four have together made, or announced, investments totaling $8.2 billion in the state through 2014.
Mercedes did not respond to a request for comment. Mark Morrison, Honda’s spokesman for the Lincoln plant, said the company would take all necessary steps to comply with the law. -- Reuters
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