老澳门开奖结果 and Civil Rights Coalition Ask Court to Block South Carolina鈥檚 Anti-Immigrant Law

December 19, 2011 4:02 pm

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CHARLESTON, S.C. 鈥 The 老澳门开奖结果 and other civil rights groups asked a federal district judge today to block South Carolina鈥檚 anti-immigrant law from taking effect because it is unconstitutional, interferes with federal laws and would cause great harm in the state.

The coalition was in court today to seek a preliminary injunction that seeks to block the law pending a final ruling on its constitutionality. The U.S. Department of Justice, which also sued South Carolina over the law, also argued for an injunction. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel said he will rule before the law鈥檚 Jan. 1 effective date.

鈥淎cross the country, we have been fighting anti-immigrant laws because they are unconstitutional, lead to racial profiling and widespread civil rights abuses,鈥 said Andre Segura, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Immigrants鈥 Rights Project, who argued in court on behalf of the coalition. 鈥淭his misguided law should be blocked before it causes great harm and turns South Carolina into a police state.鈥

The law, SB 20, subjects South Carolinians, including U.S. citizens and legal residents, to unlawful search and seizure and interferes with federal authority over immigration laws. The law requires police to demand 鈥減apers鈥 demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during traffic stops when they have 鈥渞easonable suspicion鈥 that a person lacks immigration status, thereby inviting racial profiling. It criminalizes South Carolinians for everyday interactions with undocumented individuals, such as driving someone to church, or renting a room to a friend.

鈥淪outh Carolina must not become like Alabama, whose inhumane anti-immigrant law has created a crisis in the state, separated families and devastated the business community,鈥 said Victoria Middleton, executive director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of South Carolina. 鈥淭his law will hurt all South Carolinians and must be blocked before it wreaks havoc in our state.鈥

Arizona鈥檚 notorious SB 1070 inspired South Carolina鈥檚 law, as well as similar laws in Georgia, Alabama, Utah and Indiana. Federal courts have already blocked key provisions of these laws in Arizona, Indiana and Georgia. A federal court in Alabama allowed some parts of the law to take effect, leading to devastating humanitarian consequences, while other provisions have been blocked. Coalition members also have a pending case against Utah鈥檚 anti-immigrant law, which the court delayed pending a hearing in February.

The coalition in the South Carolina case includes the 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of South Carolina, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Immigration Law Center, MALDEF, the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the law firms of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood and the Lloyd Law Firm.

To learn more about the case and read the complaint, as well as the motion for preliminary injunction, go to: .


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