Immigrant rights groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, are challenging a state law that would place foreign workers and students at risk of a felony conviction for driving a car without legal proof of residence.
The law, called ?operating a vehicle without lawful presence,? makes it a felony for immigrants to drive a car without carrying proof of their legal status in the country.? The state legislature enacted the law shortly after 9/11 as an anti-terrorism
measure.
The U.S. Supreme Court deemed a similar Arizona law unconstitutional in 2012 because it gave local law enforcement agencies the right to inquire about a person?s immigration status.
Immigrant rights advocates argue the law has not been used to prosecute terrorists but instead to oppress immigrants, even those with lawful status, and to harass U.S. citizens who appear to be foreign.
The Louisiana law gives local law enforcement a similar right, leaving people open to arrest and at risk of felony convictions.
The SPLC joined the National Immigration Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Louisiana in filing a friend-of-the-court amicus brief in the cases of State v. Bonifacio Ramirez and State v. Marquez filed at the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Reporter Maria Clark can be reached at maria.clark@nopg.com.
To sign up for free CityBusiness Daily Updates, click here.
minka kelly James Holmes court Rupert Sanders penn state Ernie Els Teen Choice Awards 2012 Aurora victims
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.