NYT: Alabama Governor Urges Changes to Latest Immigration Law

[pampango]

Protesters in the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery on Wednesday, when lawmakers supported an immigration law.

Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama called a special legislative session on Thursday and urged lawmakers to consider changes to the state’s far-reaching immigration enforcement law, less than a day after legislators voted to keep most of that law intact.

The passage of the bill on Wednesday, as protesters sang outside the legislative chambers and in several cases were dragged away in handcuffs, was a victory for the most determined supporters of the original law.

Mr. (State Representative Micky) Hammon’s proposal, which passed the House in April, addressed some of these complaints and altered some of the provisions that have been challenged as unconstitutional. It also included a measure, backed by business interests, that gave judges some discretion in levying the law’s harsh penalties against businesses found to have employed illegal labor.

But the other sponsor of the original law, State Senator Scott Beason, introduced his own proposal, which preserved most original sections, including any that are currently barred by federal court. It would still allow law enforcement officials to check immigration status during traffic stops, require schools to check the immigration status of students at enrollment and bar illegal immigrants from renting property.

Neither proposal was welcomed by civil rights groups, but Mr. Beason’s version was preferred by Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations in the state. To the frustration of some high-ranking Republican lawmakers, what passed on Wednesday amid a flurry of last-minute legislation at the end of the session was very close to Mr. Beason’s version.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/us/alabama-governor-urges-changes-to-latest-immigration-law.html?_r=1

Looks like the tea party is still in charge in the Alabama legislature.