Alabama lawmakers have passed legislation that would make it a felony to knowingly bring someone into the state who is in the U.S. illegally, echoing similar bills nationwide that could restrict domestic travel for some immigrants.
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The measure carves out exemptions for medical professionals such as ambulance drivers and employees for law firms, educators, churches or charitable organizations carrying out “non-commercial” tasks. {snip}
Alabama joins at least nine other states that have considered legislation this year that would create crimes of transporting immigrants who are unlawfully in the U.S., according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. It’s one of many recent bills passed by conservative statehouses seeking to aid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
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Federal law already makes it a crime to knowingly transport someone who is in the U.S. illegally. That law has been used in border areas against drivers picking up people who illegally cross into the U.S. But it has not historically been used for minor things like giving someone a ride to the grocery store, said Kathleen Campbell Walker, a longtime immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas.
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Alabama’s legislation is similar to a 2023 Florida law, which made it a state crime to knowingly transport someone who entered the U.S. illegally. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Florida law last year, noting it’s preemption by federal law. But in March, the judge narrowed that injunction to block the law’s enforcement only against some who sued, including several individuals and members of The Farmworker Association of Florida.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a law last week that criminalizes harboring, transporting or hiding individuals without legal immigration status “for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.”
Texas also has toughened its immigration laws. Last year, it increased prison sentences under a state anti-smuggling law that prohibits transporting individuals with the intent to conceal them from law enforcement.
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