Occupy Birmingham Plans Protest Against HB 56
By ,
Published December 10, 2016
Alabama protest against immigration law before it was passed. (AP)
The Occupy Birmingham movement is kicking off a month full of protests, beginning with a rally at a detention center to protest the state's controversial immigration law.
The 99 percenters there are planning to march from Birmingham to Gadsden in Etowah County to protest HB 56 law, which requires law enforcement in the state, upon detention or arrest, to try to make a reasonable attempt to determine the detainee's immigration status. The federal government uses the lockup to detain people being held for possible deportation.
County authorities, meanwhile, say don't expect problems from the protesters. Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin says the demonstration is expected to be peaceful, and he doesn't anticipate any trouble from the group.
The city of Gadsden already has issued a permit for the protest, and leaders have met with city officials.
The organizers have been staging protests in Birmingham as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Occupy Birmingham organizers have protests planned for Dec. 11 and on Christmas Day, too, according to its Web site.
Among its questions asking, 'Are YOU in the 99%?' the Web site asks: "What if Alabama's new immigration law (HB-56) doesn't save or create jobs, but instead strains education, police and foster care services that are already stretched thin, and costs us millions in legal fees and lost conventions, business and trade?"
The law is considered the strictest in the country. Alabama officials say it is necessary because of the federal government's failure to reform the nation's fractured immigration laws. The Obama administration has challenged parts of the law, deeming it unconstitutional.
Based on reporting by The Associated Press.
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