Under Alabama's law, can they arbitrarily jail me?

[Anonymous]

I'm a U.S. citizen, not hispanic (although I do speak fluent spanish), but I could easily pass for Hispanic (brunette, dark eyes) etc.

The articles say they can jail without bond anyone who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant. So theoretically, if I'm driving down the road in Alabama, and they pull me over, and I don't have my birth certificate with me, they could just dump me in a cell and keep me there?

[Anonymous]

I believe that they must have stopped you for another purpose, have "reasonable suspicion" and then be unable to verify your residency. I suppose the key issue is what constitutes reasonable suspicion to an Alabama police officer.

In any case both legal and illegal immigrants are moving and it is going to hurt the economy. 25% of their construction industry is gone and they have damage to repair.

[Anonymous]

Yes they can and will.
Signed
The Old South

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes they can and will.
Signed
The Old South

Might I add, anyone that tells you otherwise has never spent any time at all farther south than the carolinas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I suppose the key issue is what constitutes reasonable suspicion to an Alabama police officer.

This Alabama gentlemen can tell you constitutes "reasonable suspicion." Regardless of your politics, it's one of the classic political ads of all time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0

[Anonymous]

I thought him pulling out the rifle as he says *We're republicans...* was an especially nice touch.

[Anonymous]

I thought their agriculture commissioner was opposed to the rounding up of illegals because there isn't going to be anyone to harvest the crops?
There was an article in the NYTimes just a couple of days ago about farmers (I forget where) who tried to do without immigrant help and found out really quickly they'd made a huge mistake, as even the unemployed locals wouldn't take the jobs (too grueling).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought their agriculture commissioner was opposed to the rounding up of illegals because there isn't going to be anyone to harvest the crops?
There was an article in the NYTimes just a couple of days ago about farmers (I forget where) who tried to do without immigrant help and found out really quickly they'd made a huge mistake, as even the unemployed locals wouldn't take the jobs (too grueling).

Wow, even in this economy?

[takoma]

Anonymous wrote:This Alabama gentlemen can tell you constitutes "reasonable suspicion." Regardless of your politics, it's one of the classic political ads of all time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0

My reaction to that ad was to wonder if it was a parody. Then I found out it's a real ad by a guy who actually ran in the Republican primary. But that does not actually answer the question, because it may have been purposely over-the-top to both annoy us liberals and parody our idea of Republicans.

But, since he came in third, I suppose the voters were also not sure. So what do all of you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought their agriculture commissioner was opposed to the rounding up of illegals because there isn't going to be anyone to harvest the crops?
There was an article in the NYTimes just a couple of days ago about farmers (I forget where) who tried to do without immigrant help and found out really quickly they'd made a huge mistake, as even the unemployed locals wouldn't take the jobs (too grueling).

Wow, even in this economy?

Yeah, even in this economy.

Easier to sit around and collect welfare benefits than go out to work, especially manual labor.

I think its an interesting experiment though because this argument about illegals taking all the jobs is always used so I am interested to see what happens.

[TheManWithAUsername]

Anonymous wrote:I think its an interesting experiment though because this argument about illegals taking all the jobs is always used so I am interested to see what happens.

Experimenting this way is always flawed b/c of the race to the bottom. The market should drive wages up enough to attract workers, but instead, Alabama agriculture will just lose in national competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought their agriculture commissioner was opposed to the rounding up of illegals because there isn't going to be anyone to harvest the crops?
There was an article in the NYTimes just a couple of days ago about farmers (I forget where) who tried to do without immigrant help and found out really quickly they'd made a huge mistake, as even the unemployed locals wouldn't take the jobs (too grueling).

Wow, even in this economy?

Yeah, even in this economy.

Easier to sit around and collect welfare benefits than go out to work, especially manual labor.

I think its an interesting experiment though because this argument about illegals taking all the jobs is always used so I am interested to see what happens.

There is a bit of a conundrum here for some people. If you are working in a field dawn to dusk, making not enough to pay the bills, you can't look for the job you are qualified for, which will pay the bills. In that kind of work, you don't get to schedule personal days for interviews and job fairs.