Alabama Law Makes It A Felony For Undocumented Immigrants To Have Water At Their Homes

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

Alabama Law Makes It A Felony For Undocumented Immigrants To Have Water At Their Homes
By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Oct 7, 2011 at 4:39 pm

Allgood Water Works officials posted this sign letting customers know they had to prove their legal status.


At least one utility company in Alabama posted a sign informing its customers that a section of Alabama’s extreme anti-immigrant law prohibits them from providing water service to undocumented immigrants. According to the sign at Allgood Water Works in Blount County, Alabama, customers must have “an Alabama driver’s license or an Alabama picture ID card on file” by the date that the immigration law went into effect; otherwise, they risked losing their water service.

Sadly, the picture for Alabama’s immigrants is even grimmer than this sign suggests. Indeed, under one provision of the state’s immigration law, HB 56, it is a felony for an undocumented immigrant to even attempt to do business with Alabama’s state-run water agencies:

An alien not lawfully present in the United States shall not enter into or attempt to enter into a business transaction with the state or a political subdivision of the state and no person shall enter into a business transaction or attempt to enter into a business transaction on behalf of an alien not lawfully present in the United States. <...>
A violation of this section is a Class C felony.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/07/339067/alabama-illegal-to-live-undocumented/

[Xipe Totec]

1. Get ready for a fucking lawsuit,

You $#@$& worthless pieces of $%^#%@.

[EFerrari]

9. You'd think a civil rights attorney could have a field day with this cr@p. n/t

[Sportsguy]

52. Or Get Ready For Something Else

[ZombieHorde]

2. Scary. People should be more important than flags. nt

[RKP5637]

3. Those people love to persecute others, to them the undocumented immigrants are

the new blacks they can persecute. F'en state, I wouldn't even fly over it ...

[Papagoose]

12. Ugh, I gotta spend the weekend there.

Family member in the hospital, so no way out of it.

[RKP5637]

20. That's definitely a reason to visit. Hope everything is OK for

your family member.

[Papagoose]

67. Thanks

Father in law (who is Alabama to the core, with apologies to those good people who I just know exist in that state) is not expected to last the weekend. He is simply put, a very bad person, who is not a part of my family's life, but we feel obligated to take care of his final arrangements.

[RKP5637]

72. He's very lucky to have you. Often I think of the very good people in

life who die alone, neglected and unknown.

[StarsInHerHair]

21. wear the Mexican flag.....

[LuckyLib]

64. Spend as little as you can. That's what I do with Arizona. Drive right on through

and try not to buy even gasoline there. Screw-em!

[DBoon]

30. They want a return of the racial caste system

the good old days, when the lower classes knew their place

[RKP5637]

31. Yeah, apparently. I thought we had started to get beyond all of that crap, but

some just some it... Sometimes I think they never go away, they are just less obvious from time to time.

[treestar]

58. Interesting thought

Looking at that sign surely brings up the Jim crow era.

And illegals are vulnerable, since they are really not supposed to be here in at the strict sense.

[jmowreader]

4. I'm going to assume...

that going to the houses of the people who wrote this law, turning off their water and welding the valve handles so it couldn't be turned back on would be wrong.

[Remember Me]

6. Man. I'd hold the flashlight for you

What a sick, sick, evil law.

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. That presents quite the ethical quandry.

Feels wrong, yet so right at the same time.

[Ken Burch]

22. Well, there's wrong and then there's wrong.

This doesn't sound like either.

[madrchsod]

5. no wonder they left and i doubt they`re coming back...

well there`s plenty of jobs that just opened up in bama'

[EFerrari]

8. And many that will be lost as businesses who relied on Latinos

are shuttered. These laws tend to result in a net loss of jobs, which is counter-intuitive.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. Maybe we should pass a law that says racist redneck white trash can't have water either.

:shrug:

[baldguy]

10. The law requires better treatment for dogs.

[saras]

13. Alabama, meet cholera.

...and in handbasket number two, it's stupid, running neck and neck with evil in handbasket number one. And they're speeding up, folks! Yes, speeding up, as the bottom drops out, but they're still nose to nose. Look at those baskets GO!!!

[999998th word]

14. WTF-What's next -will they make us take a piss test

before we get access to water? Every day brings a fresh hell.

[russspeakeasy]

19. Florida beat them to that...piss tests for all on "welfare"

so far, they have denied 2% of the applicants....what a waste of time and money....Rotten Scott, the medicare thief and now governor has more in store for Children Services...

[dsharp88]

15. Maybe they can have their own drinking fountains.

Oh wait... never mind.

[Little Tich]

16. Alabama Immigration Law Causes Hispanics to Leave Schools

Source: ABC news

http://abcnews.go.com/US/alabama-immigration-law-hispanics-leave-schools/story?id=14663550

Alabama schools are seeing abnormally high rates of absences for Hispanic students after what is widely considered the toughest anti-immigration law in America went into effect.

The law, which was approved by the state legislature and widely backed by voters, allows police to check for papers and detain undocumented residents without bail. It also mandates that public schools share with authorities the citizenship status of all newly enrolled students.

Keith Ward, spokesperson for Huntsville City Schools, one of the largest school districts in the state with 23,000 students, told ABC News that of the 1,435 Hispanic students enrolled in Huntsville schools, 207 were absent last Thursday, the day the law took effect.

[malthaussen]

17. I Keep Thinking

We should just go ahead and tear down the Statue of Liberty. The poem on the pedestal obviously no longer reflects the values of this country.

-- Mal

[RKP5637]

23. It's getting more meaningless everyday in this country. There was a time when

I was proud of the US, but anymore, it's getting pretty dismal.

[Joe Bacon]

18. Good thing Superman doesn't live in Alabama!

He's an illegal alien, too!

[Confusious]

29. Well, technically, he was adopted by the Kents

So that makes him a citizen.

[quakerboy]

34. Papers please?

I mean, was it really a legal adoption?

[Confusious]

35. Well, they really didn't go into that

That would make a boring comic. "MA and PA KENT go sit and wait to ADOPT KAL-EL"

[NinetySix]

24. Has anybody uttered the words "Ethnic Cleansing" yet?

Don't Americans sort of reflexively frown on this sort of thing elsewhere?

[elehhhhna]

46. + one trillion

[Sportsguy]

50. + 1 Trillion More

[elehhhhna]

56. i'l see your trillion and raise ya a BUNCH of trillion!

welcome to DU!

[elehhhhna]

57. new protest sign; EC ain't PC !

[mfcorey1]

25. This has got to be a joke. If it is not, I fear for lives of people across this nation if the right

regains the controls of government.

[Jester Messiah]

26. This is going to bite them on the ass, just like it did in Georgia.

One day these hicks are going to realize that it's a bad idea to fuck with the people who underpin your economy.

[scentopine]

27. Neo-confederates are on the rise across the south...

that means it's time for democrats to compromise with them and grant them some major bi-partisan concessions.

Maybe allowing higher levels of pollution or perhaps removing job killing regulations against cross burning.

You know, it's for the good of the economy. And all that.

[Chan790]

43. The only compromise we need for dealing with neo-confederates...

is the one where we use a 2x4 to knock some sense into them.

[Deep13]

28. We are on our way to ethnic cleansing. nt

[NICO9000]

32. Doing the Lord's work, I see!

What a disgrace. How these people can sleep at night is beyond me. Do they want to make people prove their legal status when they want to buy groceries too?

I realize we're talking about Alabama here, but the lack of any decency in an action like this is despicable and very, very sad.

[think]

33. is it ever ok to remember right wing dictatorships? no text

[alp227]

36. "Let 'em die!" --Ron Paul supporters, in reference to the debate incident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PepQF7G-It0

[coalition_unwilling]

37. I'm speechless. Forget about secession. Can we just expel Alabama

from the United States ASAP?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

38. The irony is...

there are probably more undocumented US citizens than illegal immigrants in the state

[yardwork]

55. Yes. If the utilities enforce this law, the water is going off at a LOT of houses

How many people don't have a photo ID "on file" at the water utility? My utility certainly has never asked for a photo id.

[Bo]

39. migrant farm workers are a backbone of the USA

legal or illegal....the south can still be so stupid

[MADem]

40. Well, that's pretty fucking stupid--anyone with a vacation home in that shithole is, technically,

fucked.

So, Joe Blow from Canada who goes down to that dump of a state for his winter holiday--what happens to him? How about out-of-staters from FL, GA and surrounding states who have a little cabin or condo here or there?

What fucking idiots. They are assholes, too, but more importantly, they are IDIOTS.

[buckrogers1965]

41. Papers, please.

I am getting sick of this Nazi BS.

We Americans need to start telling the government to shove it soon, or we are going to be bent over and humped everyday by the government.

[Scottybeamer70]

42. There really is no end to their hate! n/t

[pampango]

44. Ethnic Cleansing in Alabama. Nativist Backers Say “That’s the Point”

You’ve probably heard that Alabama has begun implementing the harshest anti-immigrant law in the country. Their stated goal is to wipe every undocumented person from the state by putting such a squeeze on their communities that they are terrorized out. Police, public utilities companies and even elementary schools are authorized to report anyone they think may be undocumented.

http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/entry/ethnic_cleansing_in_alabama._nativist_backers_say_thats_the_point/

[elehhhhna]

47. WHENCOMPANIES POLICE THE CITIZENS YOU KNOW WHO OWNS YOUR GOVERNMENT.

[No Elephants]

45. Will the Rethugs try to get the Governor to run for President?

[socialshockwave]

48. Why should those who are in your country illegally get the perks of citizenship?

Seriously.

[pampango]

49. What about American kids in a house? They pay the price for their poor choice of parents?

Is this one of those "It's too bad about the kids but you have to be tough to get things done in this world?"

Is water a perk of citizenship?

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[treestar]

60. False

Illegals do not cost - that's a right wing talking point.

[EFerrari]

62. No, that's wrong. Seriously, do some reading before you spout this stuff.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

66. Someone is seriously full of shit, as well as being unread and ignorant

Drowning in debt? That is tea bugger language.

[mokawanis]

68. Absolute bullshit

America isn't drowning in debt because illegal immigrants use social services. America is drowning io debt because the Govt. is basically owned by corporations that are screwing the middle-class and working-class. And welcome to my ignore list. You're only the second person to be put on it but you've certainly earned your spot.

[Celefin]

53. Access to clean WATER is a PERK?!

I thought it was one of the UN millenium goals.

Enjoy the Cholera outbreaks. Of course that will take care of the problem to a degree. Especially the kids.

[COLGATE4]

54. You've got to be shitting me! On your planet, does being able

to receive water services that you PAY for constitute a 'perk of citizenship'? :banghead:

[treestar]

59. They don't. They are subject to deportation.

But while they are here, access to water is not so much to ask. These are people.

[EFerrari]

61. Water is not a perk of citeznship. It is a human right.

[Posteritatis]

69. Non-citizens can't get water service in the US? Citation needed. (nt)

[harun]

71. Water != Perk

[Occulus]

73. Water is a basic necessity of human existence

Calling it a "perk of citizenship" tells me a lot more about YOU than it does about anything else.

You are one sick puppy.

[CreekDog]

74. anyone who refers to water as a "perk" and would deny it to any human can't claim to be a Democrat

much less a decent human being.

[Blue_Tires]

75. Following that 'logic', we shouldn't let them breathe the air, either...

or buy food and clothing

[MadMaddie]

63. So it's the undocumented today, will it be the gays tomorrow?

the unmarried down the road, single moms...

See how this works....if they want a revolution....they are going to get one...

[Lucian]

65. Add that to the growing list of reasons why I'll never visit Alabama.

[harun]

70. Yah, I didn't need any more reasons, but hey we'll add a few more...