Federal Judge Blocks Alabama Immigration Law--For the Moment

A Federal District Judge in Alabama has temporarily blocked the implementation of the new anti-immigrant legislation that was scheduled to take effect this week in Alabama. She blocked it only to give herself more time to study the law, so both sides apparently took comfort in that fact:

The ruling was cheered both by Republican leaders who were pleased the judge didn't gut the law and by opponents who compare it to old Jim Crow-era statutes against racial integration.
Blackburn didn't address whether the law is constitutional, and she could still let all or parts of the law take effect later. Instead, she said she needed more time to consider lawsuits filed by the Justice Department, private groups and individuals that claim the state is overstepping its bounds.

The judge said she will issue a longer ruling by Sept. 28, and her temporary order will remain in effect until the day after. She heard arguments from the Justice Department and others during a daylong hearing last week.

 While I certainly understand the frustration at the local level that the federal government has not implemented any kind of immigration reform, we can only hope that these egregiously punitive laws will be held back.

Similar laws have been passed in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. Federal judges already have blocked all or parts of the laws in those states.