By BOB JOHNSON
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Civil rights groups sued Friday in federal court to block Alabama’s new law cracking down on illegal immigration, which supporters and opponents have called the strictest measure of its kind in the nation.
The lawsuit, filed in Huntsville, claims the new law will make criminals out of church workers who provide shelter to immigrants and even citizens who give their neighbors a ride to the store or to the doctor’s office.
“This law interferes with the free exercise of religion. It criminalizes acts of love and hospitality,” said Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries.