By Hannah Garcia
Foley Onlooker
SUMMERDALE, Alabama – As the Alabama immigration law weaves its way through the courts and the political milieu of activist groups, the effects are already trickling down into the small towns in Baldwin County.
Spanish-speaking demographics are slowly shifting out and away from Alabama, including the town of Summerdale.
“Many families have lost their jobs,” minister Marco Toledo said. Toledo leads
Iglesia de Cristo in Summerdale, a small Hispanic contingent under the town’s
Church of Christ.
The small church rents out the old police station on First Street. According to city officials, the ministry has talked about not renewing its lease in November because of dwindling numbers in its congregation.
According to Toledo, several members are in the process of relocating to other states due to fear borne from the immigration law. Some have asked the church for help.
“We think the church needs to close,” Toledo said. “That’s the situation right now. I’m hoping that won’t happen.”
Last week,
Foley Elementary Principal Bill Lawrence held an informational meeting for parents of the large Hispanic student population at the school, while a translator rapidly transmitted his words to a Spanish-speaking audience.
According to Lawrence, he hoped to clear up what the law meant for Hispanic children currently enrolled, and those who enrolled in the future.
“There will be no one asking your children if their parents are legal,” Lawrence said to dozens of Hispanic parents and their children packing the small auditorium. “Your children are safe here, and your information is safe.”
According to 2010 census data, Hispanic people make up over nine percent of the total population in Foley, the largest area of growth in Baldwin County in the past decade. Hispanic student make up 20 percent of the school’s total body.
The meeting came after a major dip in attendance of Hispanic students after federal judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn upheld most portions of the immigration law three weeks ago, making Alabama the first state to require schools to check the legal status of future enrollees.
“The information that we are required to collect under the Act will not be used to individually identify your child. The information will be used to report statistical data to the Legislature,” the Alabama Department of Education wrote in a release. “
color:black">We encourage all students to stay enrolled and attend school. The Alabama Department of Education is committed to a quality education for all.”
"All schools will cease to identify birth origin of students through birth certificates or affidavits as previously directed. Schools will revert to enrollment procedures in effect prior to September 29," interim state superintendent Larry Craven said in a release.
Regardless, the school remains dedicated to its students, according to Lawrence.
“If you are here in the state of Alabama, your children need to be in school,” Lawrence said. “ We love you and we love your children. No matter what happens, we will take care of your children.”
The school could not provide information on police enforcement, Lawrence said in response to a parent who stood and voiced concern about parents being separated from their children.
“We are all afraid,” the man said in Spanish.
Unauthorized immigrants comprise 4.2 percent of the Alabama workforce, paying $130 million dollars in taxes to the state and local governments, reports the organization.
“If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Alabama,
the state would lose $2.6 billion in economic activity, $1.1 billion in gross state product, and approximately 17,819 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group,” reads a statement from the American Immigration Council.
“It would not have been necessary to address this problem if the federal government would have done its job and enforced the laws dealing with this problem,” Bentley said in a press conference after Blackburn upheld portions of the law weeks ago.
