Changes coming to immigration law, lawmaker says | al.com

Alabama Republicans should be ready to reveal their promised "tweaks" to the state's immigration law in the next week or two, State Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, said today.

Williams spoke at a conference sponsored by the Birmingham Area Consortium on Higher Education that looked at several aspects of the tough new law, from its political ramifications to how it's affecting municipalities, schools and health care.

Many of the speakers opposed HB56 - the popular name for the law that went into effect last year -- calling it everything from inconvenient to racist. State Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, who opposed it from the start and has pre-filed an effort to have it repealed, said that the law is hurting the state's education, economy and reputation.

"Sometimes if you realize you've made a mistake in your life, you have to have the courage to say I'm sorry and to rectify it," Beasley said today at Samford University, in the final panel of the two-day seminar. "So I challenge the members of the Alabama Legislature to dig down deep in your conscience and do what's right for the state of Alabama"

Other panelists argued that the law has affected many legal residents, from schoolchildren who are the children of immigrants but are U.S. citizens to area businesses who are struggling to find workers.

In a morning session, educators said that many children who stayed have been scared because of the law and had problems with attendance and concentration.

Later, health care workers said the law makes their job more difficult because it has the potential to scare off patients and also slows down delivery of care.

For example, every person who seeks services at the Jefferson County Department of Health must certify their citizenship, said Carlos Torres Sanchez, international program manager for the health department. That makes it harder to treat people and to prevent diseases that can harm the entire community.

"HB56 is creating an unreasonable burden of work on the health care workers who are working in the community," Sanchez said. "This law is forcing health care workers to act as immigration agents, which we should not have to be."

The fear of getting in trouble or being made to show paperwork may be driving immigrants away from preventive care, said Edwina Taylor, executive director of Cahaba Valley Healthcare, which provides free vision and dental services. She said that in 2010, 80 percent of their clinic patients were Hispanics; last year, that figure fell to 51 percent.

"They say these people broke the law, they shouldn't even be here," Taylor said. "Well, people on death row get basic medical services."

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/02/changes_coming_to_immigration.html

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