Mexico & Nafta - November 2011 (ISSN 1741-444X)

California: The Democrat governor of California, Jerry Brown, ratified a law, AB131, which will allow undocumented migrants to apply for state grants and scholarships to attend university. This proposal is the second part of the California Dream Act to become law. In July undocumented migrants with places at university were allowed to apply for private student loans to continue their studies.

Governor Brown has also outlawed the E-Verify programme which would have compelled municipalities to check the immigration status of all the people they hired. Governor Brown had also made it more difficult for the authorities to impound vehicles driven by undocumented migrants who do not have a driver’s licence.

South Carolina : On 31 October the federal government challenged a South Carolina state law (69) which allows the police to jail undocumented migrants while their immigration status is investigated. The federal government argues that immigration is, under the constitution, a federal prerogative. The federal government has also challenged similar laws passed by the state congresses in Arizona and Alabama.

South Carolina’s law was passed on 27 June and is due to become law on 1 January 2012.

The challenge to the law is being led by the Department of Justice (DoJ). The DoJ is also assessing anti-immigrant laws passed in Utah, Indiana and Georgia to see whether they too need to be overturned by the courts.