Ask the Expert: Marshall Fitz on the impact of Alabama’s immigration law

Q: What does Alabama’s immigration law, H.B. 56, do?

H.B. 56 is the most recent and most extreme in a raft of state-based immigration measures that have been enacted over the last couple of years.

So what are some examples of provisions that are in H.B. 56 that are so offensive? The first, and the one that has garnered the most attention, is the measure that requires all schools to ask all students to prove their immigration status.

Another provision that has been widely derided and has been blocked in other states is one that makes it a crime to just be undocumented in the state of Alabama. This is unprecedented.

A third provision that has also been the subject of national attention is the so-called “Papers Please” law. That provision requires all cops who stop someone and suspect they may be undocumented to demand that they prove their immigration status on the spot.

Q: How is the law impacting Alabama’s families and businesses?

The state has created an incredibly hostile environment for immigrant communities. It’s having a severe economic impact as well. Already we’ve seen many, many farmers speaking out strongly against this law because their workforce has not shown up. That means that crops are rotting on the field.

What’s more, any economist will tell you that if you purge your state of a productive segment of the population, you’re losing consumers and you’re going to get economic contraction. We’re going to see that in the state of Alabama.

Q: Is there a better way to fix our broken immigration system?

I think what Alabama highlights in the sharpest relief is that we cannot have 50 different states going in 50 different directions creating 50 different sets of policies. Only the federal government can solve this problem.

Comprehensive immigration reform that is tough, fair, and practical would provide the control over our immigration system and our borders that Americans hunger for. It would also serve our nation’s economic interests, and at a time of great economic peril that should be a top priority.

But perhaps most importantly, comprehensive immigration reform of the kind that has been introduced repeatedly over the last 10 years would uphold our nation’s most basic values.