Federal Judge Upholds Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law--Hispanic Students Disappear

The extremely harsh law passed earlier this year in Alabama that targets undocumented immigrants has been upheld by a Federal judge, and the Associated Press reports that in its wake schools have witnessed the disappearance of Hispanic students.

Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities.
There are no precise statewide numbers. But several districts with large immigrant enrollments — from small towns to large urban districts — reported a sudden exodus of children of Hispanic parents, some of whom told officials they planned to leave the state to avoid trouble with the law, which requires schools to check students' immigration status.

The Obama administration has filed suit to overturn that court ruling, but in the meantime it is likely that many Latinos will leave Alabama--exactly what the law was intended to accomplish. But there is a certain hypocrisy in the Obama administration's actions, as Greg Weeks noted today: 

The only reason the Obama administration is suing left and right is that it has utterly failed to pass any meaningful immigration legislation.  These lawsuits only seek to re-establish the status quo ante, which was already broken.  They don't do anything to advance federal reform.