Conservative group plans protest in support of Alabama immigration law

An Alabama-based tea party group will rally in Hoover, Ala., Tuesday evening in support of H.B. 56, the state’s new immigration enforcement law.

The demonstration comes before an upcoming decision from a federal judge considering multiple lawsuits that challenge the law’s constitutionality. AP reports that “organizers say they hope to send a message to a federal judge who’s currently deciding whether to uphold the law.”

Judge Sharon Blackburn, a George H.W. Bush appointee, temporarily blocked the law for the month of September in anticipation of a permanent decision on whether the law is constitutional.

The Alabama law regulates an unprecedented number of areas in an effort to crack down on undocumented immigrants, including employment, policing, housing, higher education, K-12 education and contracts. The lawsuit from civil and immigrant rights groups challenging the law covers so many issues — a total of 9 counts from 36 plaintiffs — that the judge recently ordered the groups to restate their complaint in order to clarify which plaintiffs are affected by which provisions of the law.

Tea party mobilization in favor of the law contrasts with a recent letter from a coalition of different tea party and Republican-affiliated groups asking Congress not to impose E-Verify on the country. E-Verify is a federal electronic identification system that the Alabama immigration law requires businesses in the state use when hiring employees.