Protests in Alabama against xenophobic and racist law HB56

Photo Stephen Pavey

The anti-immigrant law HB56 implemented by the state of Alabama last September 1st, has caused an organized response from youth advocacy groups, community organizations and courageous individuals who are campaigning for this bill to be repealed, or at least modified. 


Alabama has followed the states of Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Georgia by passing strong anti-immigrant laws with the excuse of fighting illegal immigration. As a result, thousands of undocumented and documented immigrants and their families are leaving the state of Alabama, and many others are forced to live in the shadows out of fear of being incarcerated and deported.


HB56 has been denounced as a racist, xenophobic and cruel law by civil rights groups and leaders, and Federal courts have blocked parts of law from taking effect. The legislation itself is based on institutionalized White supremacy and hatred towards people who look and sound “foreign”. This is a code expression for "looking Mexican" or like any indigenous peoples from the South who speak Spanish, known as Latinos in the U.S.

Similar to what happened with Arizona's SB1070, the people of Alabama have began to fight back and they are joined by activists from other states, who are coming to protest a law that has already caused an exodus of much needed workers, causing unnecessary suffering for many and a big negative impact on local industries and businesses.

To understand what is happening in Alabama, I got in contact via telephone with with William C. Anderson, a college student and activist based in Alabama, who describes the current situation after HB56 was implemented.

William Anderson is a senior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I contacted him after reading about a petition he started asking artist Kanye West to denounce HB56.

This is the original video of Anderson's campaign:

Undocumented and unafraid

A group of undocumented students traveled to Alabama to protest HB56 and held a protest yesterday. These young activists are risking deportation after getting arrested, after a protest in front and inside the Alabama Statehouse in the historical city of Montgomery.

Jaime being arrested by apparently saddened cops. Photo AP

These students and their parents arrived from Chicago, New York and other cities. They tried to talk to Alabama legislators but none received them. Then, some students sat in the entrance lobby and others in the middle of the street, blocking traffic outside the Statehouse.

Chicago-based "Immigrant Youth Justice League" members twitted from the protest:

"We are ready to fight back! No courage. No change." 

Thirteen undocumented immigrants were arrested and will have to fight their cases in court to prevent deportation.


Reactions

This action of civil disobedience was mostly organized via Facebook and Twitter, and it got the attention of different blogs, corporate media and political websites, including The Huffington Post,

The NYS Youth Leadership Council, an advocacy group posted today in its Facebook page:

This is really happening in Alabama. More reason why we need to rise up, own our status, our life, our future and organize! Alabama, here we come.

Mohammad Abdollahi, one of the organizers of yesterday's protest wrote in his Facebook:

Ah, 13 more undocumented immigrants arrested in Alabama. This time four brave parents. Badass action and badass participants! To think we came to Alabama a month ago pretty much hated by most orgs who pretty much did everything to try to [stop] us. When you work with the community you'll come out on top regardless :)

These are some video streams of the protest.

Nation of laws


A reader of a Spanish-language in Georgia wrote this online comment (I translated it):

People, don’t let the racists intimidate you, because that is what they want, to put us down but we will not give up. We will remain standing not on our knees or in chains. We will fight for our rights until the last moment of our lives, if the government doesn’t act we will rally until our human rights are respected, they have declared a racial war. Why is president Obama not doing anything? He promised us one thing and has done the opposite, and he wants our vote again?

This reader is not exaggerating. The HB56 bill allows local police to detain and arrest anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. It criminalizes hiring, renting to or helping undocumented immigrants.

Also, it requires public schools to ask students about their immigration status, and prevents undocumented immigrants from obtaining a business or driver's license, renting or selling properties, or even obtaining water and electrical power supply at home.

Just yesterday, MSNBC presented this report on
the consequences of HB56 in the lives of the people of Alabama.

Photo via Facebook.

Will this bill be repealed?


HB56 might not be repealed completely, but it might get reformed in some way, as it happened before in Arizona with SB1070, eliminating the most radical parts of it but remaining anti-immigrant in essence.

This law is creating problems already not only to businesses but also to the State government as it forces employees to over report people who look or sound foreign.

Next week a group of Democrat Congress members will travel to Alabama "to draw attention to what they say is a civil rights emergency." led by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. In the other side, Alabama Republicans are gathering ideas for “how to tweak the legislation to make it less onerous on Alabamans and less dehumanizing for illegal immigrants.”

The people united will never be defeated:

Something is happening in Alabama, we can see it already. Maybe after the suffering of so many, and after organized and peaceful protests, perhaps the leaders of Alabama will wake up and listen to the people.

We can only hope that common sense and humanity will replace the current irrational, hateful, ignorant paranoia of those who fear people of different skin color, accents and sounds.

It is time for the racism and discrimination that this state is know for, to end this time.

Photo Stephen Pavey

See more photos of the HB56 protest.