MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama’s governor and the head of the state’s child welfare agency say the state’s tough new immigration law has not been used to take children away from their illegal immigrant parents despite the earlier predictions and fears of some immigrants.
Shortly after the law took effect, many illegal immigrants signed documents allowing friends, relatives and others to take care of their children if they were arrested or deported.
But Gov. Robert Bentley and Department of Human Resources director Nancy Buckner said last week that they know of no incidents where children have been taken because of the immigration law. Buckner and Bentley were asked about whether the law would be used to put children under state control following a news conference to discuss the success the state has had in finding families for foster children.
“It’s not happening,” Buckner said.
She said DHR was exempted from the provisions of the bill, passed by the Alabama Legislature earlier this year, and can’t be used to help the state enforce the law.