By Joshua Holland, AlterNet Posted on September 30, 2011, Printed on October 1, 2011 http://www.alternet.

org/newsandviews/674199/alabama_likes_its_guest_workers_ignorant_and_poor

So much of the immigration "debate" comes down to wishful thinking -- just wish away the incentives Americans have to hire unauthorized immigrants, or the obvious incentive migrants have for taking those jobs, and then everything will be hunky-dory. But the incentives remain, so we will have people wanting to come here. The legal system for doing so is an epic mess, so we\'ll have people in the country without having their papers in order. Many of them will eventually become legal, and many will have children who are U.S. citizens. So, in practical terms, this gets down to whether one wants to keep 4 percent or so of the workforce -- and a larger share of the future workforce -- ignorant and poor, or give them a shot at a more prosperous future (which means more tax dollars thrown into the kitty). Alabamas Anti-Immigrant Law Successfully Intimidates Children From Going To School By Zaid Jilani on Sep 30, 2011 at 12:20 pm On Wednesday, Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn issued an opinion that struck down parts of Alabamas radical new anti-immigrant laws, but left in place a provision requiring public schools to systematically determine the immigration status of public school students and to report the number of undocumented students in their district to the state. Many of the laws critics feared that the children of undocumented families would be afraid to go to school if it made it easier to deport their parents and those fears have now been validated. The Alabama online news hub al.com reports today about one school in Foley, Alabama where dozens of students either stayed home or withdrew altogether, fearful that the new law was going to lead to the deportation of their families. The principal of the school said some undocumented parents are even making arrangements for documented parents to take custody of their children if they are deported: Many of the 223 Hispanic students at Foley Elementary came to school Thursday crying and afraid, said Principal Bill Lawrence. Nineteen of them withdrew, and another 39 were absent, Lawrence said, the day after a federal judge upheld Alabamas strict new immigration law, which authorizes law enforcement to detain people suspected of not being U.S. citizens and requires schools to ask new enrollees for a copy of their birth certificate. [...] Lawrence said that parents are afraid that theyll get arrested and detained, and be cut off from their children. Many have made arrangements with American citizens in case they are separated from their children, Lawrence said. One of our mothers has agreed to accept seven families worth of children, just in case. We dont want them to take away our children, said Dawn DuPree Kelley, the principal of Greenwood Elementary School in Jefferson County, Alabama. The states governor, Robert Bentley (R-AL), remains defiant, saying, I will continue to fight at every turn to defend this

law against any and all challenges. Alabamas interim state superintendent has emphasized that schools will not be refusing admission to students because their parents citizenship status and that students already enrolled wont be checked. Education isn\'t a \'sunk cost\'; it\'s an investment.
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