The new immigration bill in Alabama, HB 56, has caused much turmoil and confusion across the state since it was signed two weeks ago.

This bill, which has undergone various modifications and appeals since its original signing in early June, is now requiring educators to check the documentation of their students to determine citizenship.

According to Rex Mayfield, superintendent of Russelville City Schools, this is nothing new.

“We’ve been collecting most of this info already,” Mayfield said. “(In STI), there is a category for your citizenship. We’ve been marking it since (STI) been around. It’s all in there but it’s something you only occasionally needed.”

STI, or Software Technology Incoporated, is a provider of data management systems which records everything from gender, race and citizenship to whether or not a student gets reduced lunches or rides the bus.

Mayfield said citizenship will not play a role in the education of a child born to an illegal immigrant.

“They will not be denied access,” Mayfield said. “We will go ahead and enroll them, but they will need some sort of letter from where they are born.”

Dr. Joy Brown, assistant professor of education, echoes the same statement, but with concern.

“Federal law mandates that all students must be allowed to attend school, regardless of immigration status,” Brown said. “My biggest fear is that parents will choose not to send their children to school and we will have uneducated populations in our communities.”

Some concerns of Amanda Hernandez, president of the Hispanic Culture Organization, are a rise of racial profiling and what the bill might tell the children.

“The issue is not supposed to be about racial profiling,” Hernandez said.

She said her husband, a Puerto Rican, has already been questioned at his work about how the new bill affects him, despite the fact that his is already a citizen.

“What kind of message does this send to the children?” Hernandez asks. “Racial profiling is what’s going on in this state and the nation in a time when we should be united. This bill may be written in black and white, but real life is not black and white.”

Hernandez doesn’t deny the need for reform, however.

“We know there needs to be reform,” Hernandez said. “The problem is in this country, and state specifically, we don’t need to point fingers at one group for the problems.”

According to Chief of Florence City Police, Rick Singleton, racial profiling won’t be an issue while officers are on the job.

“When we have a new law, the supervisors go the extra mile to make sure their guys are well trained,” Singleton said. “They’re not allowed to use race, color, or ethnic origin in investigating citizenship. There has to be a legal reason.”

“Officers are human,” Singleton continued,” and they bring their attributes to the job. There’s a learning curve where you’re feeling your way out.”

Singleton and captain Rolando Bogran both express concern about the federal, and state, government’s ability to deal with the immigration issue. According to them, when an officer stops a driver that they assume is an illegal immigrant, they still have to take the issue through the federal government.

Many times, the issue of individual illegal immigrants gets dropped.

“We have trailer parks here that are 95% Hispanic. Some are legal. Most are illegal,” Bogran said. “There are only six places for housing illegal aliens in the country.”

“This is a political issue, not a law enforcement issue,” Singleton said.