Foley (AL) Elementary students, parents afraid of Alabama's new immigration law

[trof]

Source: Mobile Press-Register

FOLEY, Alabama -- Many of the 223 Hispanic students at Foley Elementary came to school Thursday crying and afraid, said Principal Bill Lawrence.

Nineteen of them withdrew, and another 39 were absent, Lawrence said, the day after a federal judge upheld Alabama’s strict new immigration law, which authorizes law enforcement to detain people suspected of not being U.S. citizens and requires schools to ask new enrollees for a copy of their birth certificate.
Even more of the students -- who are U.S. citizens by birth, but their parents may not be -- were expected to leave the state over the weekend, Lawrence said.

"It’s been a challenging day, an emotional day. My children have been in tears today. They’re afraid," he said. "We have been in crisis-management mode, trying to help our children get over this."
Foley Elementary has the area’s largest percentage of Hispanic students, about 20 percent of its student body.
Under the new immigration law, schools must check the citizenship status of any student who enrolls after Sept. 1.

Read more: http://blog.al.com/live/2011/09/foley_elementary_students_pare.html

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I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of my state's 'government', not even in the days of George Wallace.
I live in Foley and my wife and I have volunteered at this school after the state's education budget was slashed. We worked mainly with Hispanic kindergarten kids and it was absolutely amazing to see their progress in language and other skills throughout the year.

I know Bill Lawrence and he's a very capable and kind and caring man.
This thing that's happened to his school is just tearing him up.

And on a somewhat related note: Acres and acres of sweet potatoes are now rotting in the fields.
Our 'stoop' labor has disappeared.

Thanks Alabama legislature.
:grr:

[Tansy_Gold]

1. NO human being is illegal. n/t

[BadtotheboneBob]

14. Try telling that to the Mexican government...

... in regards to Central American migrants trying to pass through or even stay. They are treated very harshly if caught. It's a felony in Mexico.

[Tansy_Gold]

17. Dear Mexican Government -- NO human being is illegal.

Not here, not there.

[BadtotheboneBob]

20. Thank you!...

Well said :)

[plumbob]

18. Well, we CERTAINLY want to do whatever Mexico does...

no, wait.

[alp227]

32. in the US illegal immigration is a felony after the first such offense nt

[pampango]

2. Republican legislature + republican governor = fear.

It's how they do things. Bad for people, but (at least in their own view) good for republican politicians both in Alabama and nationally.

[barbtries]

3. i really wish this would get some wide coverage.

it's like pain for pain's sake. :cry:
rotting potatoes and innocent children not allowed to be educated. the mean streak has to end somehow.

[RKP5637]

4. There are a few states IMO wherein we would be better off if they just seceded. n/t

[asjr]

5. We may as well dismantle the

Statue of Liberty.

[COLGATE4]

6. We already have.

[trof]

8. Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Oh wait...nope...disregard that.
:eyes:

[gratuitous]

16. Void where prohibited

Offer subject to change at any time without notice.

[Evasporque]

7. Freedom Riegns in Alabama...!!! Go Freedom!!! nt

[izquierdista]

9. Monkey see, monkey do

The Alabama legislature must be jealous of all the peaches and onions we had rotting in the fields here in GA.

[MsFlorida]

10. Modern Day -- Trail of Tears

this is so wrong in so many ways. Hated alabama when I had to live there briefly and just confirms what I learned then -- this is not a nice state and that was 31 years ago

[madrchsod]

11. born in america and deported to a land they have never seen.

they`ll be treated even worse in mexico....

i guess those white folks will have to pick their own crops.

[Yo_Mama]

15. Children born in the US cannot be deported!

They're citizens.

[RebelOne]

19. But their parents can if they re not legal citizens. n/t

[Yo_Mama]

21. Yes, they can, but their children cannot

It's a big difference. A lot of times the kids stay with other relatives and the parents come back.

[TroglodyteScholar]

26. A lot of times?

You got any numbers to back that up?

[Yo_Mama]

28. Here's an article

http://asu.news21.com/2010/children-of-deported-parents/

When a citizen child is left in this situation — either because both parents are deported or a legal parent is unable to take custody — they often end up staying with relatives who have legal status, entering public foster care or wandering homeless. Complications surrounding a parent’s ability to come to the United States after they have been deported can make it difficult, or impossible, for some deported parents to regain their parental rights, meaning that their children can be put in foster care for long periods of time or put up for adoption.

[TroglodyteScholar]

30. Thanks for the random article that also cites no sources.

Anecdotes can not be used to prove the legitimacy of claims like the one you're making.

[Yo_Mama]

31. It does cite studies, such as the one about foster care children

But you are not going to get hard and fast stats on this group, because they are by nature in the shadows. There is not an agreement about how many million illegal immigrants currently reside in the US - estimates differ by millions.

The article is interesting and hardly anti-immigrant.

[jwirr]

12. Next step in the gop war: War on children in AL and NYC.

[radhika]

13. The AL Nativist Right is surely beaming with joy at this result...n/t

[grantcart]

22. Republican farmers and restraunt owners all across the country

will soon be reconsidering what is in their interest. The fact that Perry has opened up a little daylight on immigration with Romney and the others will have some benefit.

When it comes to the GE the rural agricultural sector will not be pleased about this but Republicans have painted themselves into another corner.

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. Don't the schools get paid per pupil per day?

This will affect their interest also.

[trof]

25. Yes, m'am. That too.

jeez

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. I am hoping that agricultural interests and education interests could put pressure

on our governor/legislature.
Damn guy is a Doctor, for god's sake. Without much compassion, sounds like.

[booley]

23. For people who aren't heartless

they sure do cause a lot of suffering with a certain amount of glee.

[panzerfaust]

29. "... not even in the days of George Wallace"

That's going pretty far.






“I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

Alabama Governor George Wallace (Democrat)