Alabama’s Harsh Illegal Immigrant Laws Backfired

In lieu of national immigration reform, in 2011 Alabama passed its own strict, sweeping immigration laws, which proponents said would lead to massive “self-deportation” of undocumented residents. Two years later the business community is among the strongest voices decrying the measures as a failure. After a Mercedes-Benz executive, a German citizen, was arrested during  a routine traffic violation, Alabama businesses began to worry companies would flee the state – a feeling underscored when The St. Louis Post-Dispatch urged Mercedes to move its operations to the “Show-Me State” and out of the “Show me your papers” state. Since then the law has been largely dismantled, and in October 2013 Alabama settled various lawsuits, paying up to $350,000 to cover plaintiffs’ legal bills.