Click here for linkHUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal appeals court to stay Alabama's immigration law after a similar request was rebuffed by a federal judge in Birmingham.
In a 28-page filing this morning to the Atlanta-based court, Justice Department attorneys argued Alabama's law contravenes the federal government's exclusive authority over immigration. The Justice Department said the federal goverment's immigration law enforcement priorities include aliens who pose a danger to national security or those who have committed crimes.
"... States do not have the authority to disregard these priorities and create a patchwork of independent immigration policies," the Justice Department filing argues. "Similarly, neither the Constitution nor the federal immigration laws permit a state scheme avowedly designed to drive aliens out of the State - a program of de facto removal and a blunt instrument that can only impede federal law enforcement, obstruct the overall national regulation of immigration and present new concerns for the states to which aliens 'deport themselves.'"
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said the DOJ's continued efforts to block the law are not a surprise.
"I remain committed to seeing that this law is fully implemented," Bentley said. "We will continue to defend this law against any and all challenges."