MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s governor says a federal judge left most of the state’s tough new immigration law in place and it’s still the strongest in the nation.
Gov. Robert Bentley spoke at a news conference Wednesday in Montgomery after reviewing rulings by U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn.
Bentley says he will work with the state attorney general to appeal any parts of Blackburn’s decision that struck down sections of the law.
Bentley says the law wouldn’t have been necessary if the federal government were doing its job on illegal immigration.
Immigration became a hot issue in Alabama over the last decade as the state’s Hispanic population grew by 145 percent to about 185,600, or about 4 percent of the population.
