Alabama’s state motto is, “Audemus jura nostra defendere” – We Dare Defend Our Rights. Indeed they did just that when the court allowed Alabama’s Immigration Enforcement bill to finally proceed. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Judge Blackburn’s decision; it will accelerate the pace of state action, and at the same time, result in more harassment from the Obama Administration, two diametrically opposing forces now in motion. The Alabama decision removes many legal obstacles that have kept other states idling at the starting gate and has put the Department of Justice (DOJ) into high gear trying to determine how they will stop further state action. A Constitutional Showdown is occurring between the president who is bypassing Congress using immigration policy as a political instrument, and states that regard it as law that should be enforced….Best Alabama-Related Quote of the Week came from Lamar Smith (R-TX). Commenting on the obvious political motivations behind the Obama Administration’s assault on state enforcement bills, Smith said “the DOJ is not part of the Democratic National Committee.”…. the News Media’s Hostile Reaction to Alabama is déjà vu. Alabama’s law, like Arizona’s law last year, is being described as the “Papers Please Law.” The Ear would observe that the “papers” required by police officers during a lawful traffic stop are a drivers license, a vehicle registration and a proof of insurance, meaning nothing has changed except if a driver has none of those. After that, yes a driver might need to provide further documentation proving he/she is residing legally in the U.S. Not speaking English and having 15 other people crammed into a van – none of whom have documentation either – is envisioned as “reasonable suspicion” by most reasonable folks…. Meanwhile, the Associated Press was quick to run an irresponsible story headlined “Hispanic Students Vanish from Alabama Schools, suggesting that the new law is creating panic. Here again, the Ear would like to impart some common sense. Special interest groups whipping up hysteria by encouraging parents to keep their kids at home are doing nothing less than denying children an education which the Supreme Court mandates and which the Alabama law upholds. Alabama’s law requires schools to track immigration status, not deny public education…. Why would Rhode Island Do That? Approve in-state tuition for illegal aliens, that is. R.I. Governor Chafee has an answer, “to improve the intellectual and cultural life of (R.I.) while strengthening our work force and economy.” Nice move governor. State taxpayers already shell out almost $300 million a year subsidizing illegal immigration and now the state just created a massive new incentive for more illegal aliens to flood there…. Heard this week in Washington, D.C., Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu aptly summed up the Obama administration’s new priorities for detaining and deporting only violent criminal aliens saying, “imagine if you called your local police department to report a crime and they responded by saying ‘today we’re only responding to bank robberies, please call back later.’”