Explore the vast range of titles available.

Some portions of Alabama's law, known as HB 56 and described by supporters and critics as the harshest state immigration law in the country, were already blocked by a federal judge. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson took an additional step by ordering the state to stop denying manufactured home registration permits to people who couldn't prove their U.S. citizenship. \"This case really shows the truly terrible ways that HB 56 is playing out in the real world,\" said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the groups who sued the state. \"There's little doubt that this law was intended to drive Latinos out of the state, and that its effects have been to devastate the Latino community in Alabama.\" \"I don't think you can consider yourself human if you didn't feel for them,\" [Joey Masters] said. \"I do feel for them. I'm tender-hearted. But the way the law is written, we just don't have any options.\"

Some portions of Alabama's law, known as HB 56 and described by supporters and critics as the harshest state immigration law in the country, were already blocked by a federal judge. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson took an additional step by ordering the state to stop denying manufactured home registration permits to people who couldn't prove their U.S. citizenship. \"This case really shows the truly terrible ways that HB 56 is playing out in the real world,\" said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the groups who sued the state. \"There's little doubt that this law was intended to drive Latinos out of the state, and that its effects have been to devastate the Latino community in Alabama.\" \"I don't think you can consider yourself human if you didn't feel for them,\" [Joey Masters] said. \"I do feel for them. I'm tender-hearted. But the way the law is written, we just don't have any options.\"

\"This will help us rein in finances in the state,\" he said. \"It will create jobs for American workers and legal immigrants.\" \"I think it sends a pretty profoundly disturbing message,\" she said. \"It has provisions that have been enjoined in other states. It's mean-spirited. It's racist. It's divisive. It's just a disaster.\" \"We have made it a point to make sure our language mirrors the federal government's language,\" [Micky Hammon] said. \"We are assisting the federal government with this subject matter. We're not taking that away.\"

\"We've heard anecdotal evidence from all corners of the state about how more Alabama citizens are being hired in jobs formerly held by illegal immigrants, but the statewide and county-specific data released today is probably the best statistical proof we've seen to indicate this is happening,\" [Micky Hammon] said. Some of those jobs are \"under the radar,\" he said. \"If (a job is) not counted in the labor force, it doesn't count (statistically).\" \"We've got a long way to go before we can accurately measure the effects on Alabama's labor market of running off a population of low-income workers,\" said Arise policy analyst Stephen Stetson. \"It will be January before temporary holiday hires are let go and February at the earliest before we can get an accurate snapshot of employment.\"

  \"We've let this go on too long,\" [Micky Hammon] said of illegal immigration. \"Our budget cannot handle it, our justice system cannot handle all the crimes. We want them to stop taking advantage of our public benefits.\" \"This completes the 'Handshake with Alabama,'\" House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, said. The \"Handshake\" is the GOP's agenda for the 2011 legislative session. \"But I think the bill is unconstitutional in (its) final form because they clotured it before we could add amendments to make it constitutional,\" Ford said. \"Once again, we're going to spend taxpayer money defending this.\"

\"We're paralyzed until the next election,\" said Alabama Republican Rep. Jo Bonner, adding that state lawmakers are \"100 percent\" right to complain about federal inaction. \"We shouldn't have to have 50 immigration laws in our country. This is a matter of national security.\" \"To me the federal government ignoring this problem is putting an unfunded mandate on the states. The federal government's job is to enforce immigration law. It's their job to bring legal workers in as we need them,\" [Micky Hammon] said. \"We are hoping through this that people who do need immigrant labor . . . will put pressure on Washington now to correct the broken immigration system.\" \"There still remains a gulf,\" said Sessions, a Republican who has attended immigration meetings at the White House. \"The reason it's not happening is because people are blocking it until they get some form of amnesty (for people in the country illegally). . . . That's the political battle that's been going on for some time.\"

Dear Editor: I was happy to see that the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved a bill by Rep. Micky Hammon that would prohibit knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and would require state and local officials to enforce federal immigration laws. Amendment X to our nation's constitution is very clear and simple: 'The powers not delegated to the Untied States by the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the state, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.'

The bill by Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Meridianville, would increase fines for employers who fail to verify an employee's legal status. In addition to increasing employer fines from $25 to $100 per violation, Hinshaw's bill would earmark $50 of the fine for the state Department of Industrial Relations to verify identities through the federal Basic Pilot Verification program.

Education lobbyist Paul Hubbert, who said he will push for a 5 percent education pay raise to help Alabama stay competitive, said he hopes Gov. Bob Riley's \"brick-and-mortar plan\" for capital improvements does not go too far. Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, said planning for 2007 will be a different kind of budget process because of the extra revenue. Hammon said he hopes the Legislature will be cautious in planning for 2007. The Legislature will convene its 2006 regular session at noon today, and Riley will give his annual State of the State address at 6:30 p.m. Alabama Public Television will carry the address live.