Anti-Immigration Law Snaring Auto Workers from Germany and Japan
Jan 11, 2012
Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 10, 2012 – An Alabama law designed to cut down on illegal immigration has caught two foreign car manufacturing employees under a provision that permits law enforcement to verify the status of anyone at traffic stops.
The state has been working for decades to build a reputation as hub of auto manufacturing. Critics of the state’s new strict rules say the car company executives are an unexpected example of how the law hurts the state’s business reputation.
A German Mercedes Benz executive was arrested in November when he did not have proper immigration status documentation at a routine traffic stop. He was released when a friend brought his passport and a German driver’s license to authorities. Charges against him we dropped. Later that month, a Japanese Honda employee who was on a temporary assignment in Lincoln, Ala., was given a citation for breaking the immigration law at a roadblock even though he had his passport and an international driver’s license.
“We want to make the United States a place where international skilled workers can work and potentially create more jobs for Americans,” said Houston immigration lawyer Annie Banerjee. “Detaining international business executives is counterproductive.”
The Alabama law passed in 2011 requires law enforcement to verify immigration status during traffic stops. The law also makes it illegal to send undocumented children to school in the state and criminalizes picking up illegal immigrants as day laborers.
“I understand why states want to take matters into their own hands since the federal government will not get its act together to pass meaningful immigration reform, but some of these state laws are creating as many problems as they solve,” Banerjee said.
Annie Banerjee is a Houston immigration attorney specializing in helping people become United States citizens. The law offices assist in Visas and other legal immigration requirements as well. To learn more, visit http://www.visatous.com.
Law Offices of Annie Banerjee
131 Brooks Street, Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139
