Clergy in Alabama sue to try to stop Alabama’s new anti-immigration law:
Clergy Sues To Stop Alabama’s Immigration Law
by Debbie Elliot in NPR News online
Alabama’s new immigration law gets its first test in federal court Wednesday. The Justice Department and civil rights groups are suing to stop what’s considered to be the toughest illegal immigration crackdown coming out of the states. But the law is also being challenged from a Bible Belt institution.
‘It Goes Against Tenets Of Our Christian Faith’
At First United Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham, clergy from around the city take turns leading a prayer service called in response to the new immigration law.
Episcopal priest Herman Afanador, Baptist pastor Amanda Duckworth, and Methodist minister Melissa Self Patrick are part of a growing chorus of critics who say the Alabama law goes too far, criminalizing all kinds of contact with undocumented residents. It’s illegal, for example, to knowingly enter into a contract with, to rent to, to harbor or to transport illegal immigrants.