Judge says Alabama may check students’ immigration status

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn sided with the state of Alabama on Wednesday on two key sections of the state's wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants. Blackburn refused to enjoin a law that will compel elementary and secondary school administrators to demand students provide birth certificates to prove they were born in the United States, and then compile lists of illegal immigrant children in their schools. In theory, schools could begin to ask parents about their children's immigration status today, though it's unclear if they will do so, since school has already started.

Several school administrators spoke out against this part of the law when Alabama lawmakers were debating the measure. Critics of the bill contend that it would turn educators into enforcers of immigration law and might discourage illegal immigrants from enrolling their children in school.

Blackburn also let stand a law requiring police to question people they've stopped about their immigration status if officers have a "reasonable suspicion" that such people may be in the country illegally--a similar measure to Arizona's SB1070, which sparked national debate when it passed last year. Alabama is the only state that managed to pass this type of law without a judge blocking its enforcement before it could go into effect. Judges struck down similar provisions in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Utah.

These provisions could still be overturned when the court makes its decision on the law as a whole. Blackburn was only considering whether to grant the federal government its request to block the entire law until the court could decide whether it passes legal muster or not.

You can read Blackburn's 115-page decision here.