Alabama’s controversial requirement that school officials determine, prior to enrollment, whether a student is legally in the United States was blocked by the federal court of appeals on October 14, 2011. The Justice Department brought the lawsuit on the basis that the state law is pre-empted by federal immigration law.

Reports of bullying of children have increased since the passage of the Alabama law on June 9, 2011. In addition, parents have been pulling their children out of school for fear of exposing them to racial profiling, vigilante enforcement and removal from the United States. The full economic and social impact of Alabama’s and other states’ immigration laws is yet to be seen. Alabama is not the first state, nor will it be the last, to enact immigration provisions that will directly impact employers, employees and their families, as the nation struggles with the issue of immigration.