Click here for linkA climate of fear and panic has taken hold in Alabama's immigrant community since a federal judge let stand much of the nation's toughest state
Farm laborers have picked up their checks and headed out of town. Parents have pulled their children out of school or put in place emergency plans for their care should the parents be detained or deported for lacking proof of citizenship.
"People are just taking off without knowing where they are going," said Rosa Toussaint-Ortiz, co-chairwoman of the Hispanic/Latino Advisory Committee in Huntsville.
"They even own houses and are abandoning them. They are leaving their stuff behind."
Just how many immigrants are fleeing the state is unclear. The departures began soon after the law passed earlier this year, and advocates, educators and employers say they have seen an uptick since a September 28 court order that put into effect many of the challenged provisions.
"The purpose of it was to cut back on the number of illegal immigrants that we have in Alabama, and obviously the law is doing that," said Republican Representative Mike Ball of Huntsville.
n a court filing on Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange argued against halting the law. He said illegal immigrants take jobs away from legal residents, utilize the state's public resources without paying taxes and form "a substantial part" of the state's prison population.
There are an estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the United States, including between 75,000 and 160,000 in Alabama, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
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