A Senate committee Wednesday approved a barrage of bills lawmakers say will crack down on illegal immigration in Alabama, but the committee chamber was packed with opponents who insisted the proposals were against Biblical principles.
Some of the measures approved to go to the Senate include:
- SB53 makes it a crime if someone conceals, harbors, shields from detection, or transports into Alabama someone “they know or should know” is an undocumented immigrant
- SB55 would make Alabama not recognize out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to people who did not prove their legal status at the time of issuance
- SB63 requires law enforcement to fingerprint and obtain DNA from undocumented immigrants in custody and turn them over to state law enforcement
- SB66 expands forgery laws to make it a Class D felony to knowingly present forged documents to government agencies and officials
- SB77 tacks on extra fees for wire transfers out of the country; taxpayers would get fees back in the form of tax credit
The bills were sponsored by legislators who visited the country’s southern border last year.
Lawmakers defended SB77 by saying people were sending money they didn’t pay taxes for. The bill was created to capture tax revenue from those working for cash and not paying state income taxes who are wiring money to family in other countries.
Supporters insist all the bills would strengthen law enforcement. Furthermore, legislators have identified illegal immigration to be a top issue for 2025’s session.
At public hearings, opponents of the bills said the measures were anti-Christian, unnecessary, and cruel.
One attendee quoted Leviticus 19:33-34, which reads, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Opponents of SB53 said the bill criminalizes good Samaritans who may simply give someone walking on hot or rainy days a ride; one attorney for the Sothern Poverty Law Center said the bill would make a teacher taking a class on a field trip could be penalized for the trip if any of the students or accompanying parents are undocumented.
But the immigration bills were approved after the public hearing, the proposals now put in line to be considered by the Senate.
