Feds ask appeals court to block Ala. immigration law

— -- The Justice Department asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to block Alabama's strict new immigration law, saying it creates discrimination and drives aliens from the state through procedures outside those established in federal law.

In a filing with the Atlanta-based court, the department called the Alabama law "a sweeping new state regime."

"That state regime contravenes the federal government's exclusive authority over immigration," the filing said. "The law also invites discrimination against many foreign-born citizens and lawfully present aliens, including legal residents, by making it a crime for any landlord to rent housing to an unlawfully present alien, invalidating all contracts with unlawfully present aliens, and even targeting school-age children with an alien registration system," the brief goes on to say.

A message left with the Alabama Attorney General's office was not immediately returned.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn last week allowed major portions of the state's immigration law to go into effect, saying the Justice Department and a coalition of groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center had not shown they met standards for a preliminary injunction on the entire law. Blackburn turned back a request this week to stay the law while appeals move forward.

The district court judge blocked provisions that would have banned undocumented residents from attending postsecondary schools and made it a crime to "harbor, conceal or shield" undocumented residents. Blackburn allowed the following provisions to go into effect:

-- Requiring aliens to carry documentation at all times.

-- Allowing law enforcement to detain suspects they have "reasonable suspicion" of being in the country unlawfully.

-- Requiring schools to collect information on the immigration status of students at the time of enrollment.

-- Making contracts with unlawfully present aliens invalid.

-- Making it unlawful for local agencies to do business with undocumented aliens.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signed the legislation into law June 9. Supporters claimed it would create jobs and reduce costs for governments here. Critics said it will lead to racial profiling, and schools reported large numbers of absences of Hispanic students in the days after Blackburn's ruling.

The U.S. Census says 2.9% of Alabama's population is foreign born, compared to 12.4% nationwide.

The Justice Department argued in its brief that the federal government takes several considerations into account in immigration enforcement, including its effect on lawfully present citizens and how enforcement will affect foreign relations.

"The federal government focuses its attention on aliens who pose a danger to national security or have committed crimes, and states do not have the authority to disregard these priorities and create a patchwork of independent immigration policies," the brief states.