Ooops, Alabama immigrant law nabs wrong kind of foreigner.

“I was really embarrassed and overwhelmed,” says state Senator Gerald Dial. “Mercedes has done more to change the image of Alabama than just about anything else. We don’t want to upset those people.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-2 ... utive.html

Just because a man has money and prevelige does not mean that he can ignore the laws. Conservatives and liberals all agree on this.

If we had proper immigration control on the Federal level, ie. execution of the laws already on the books, then there would be no need for the crap that this incident highlights.

Interesting problem, had the cops let the Mercedes executive go they wouldn't have been enforcing the laws they have been sworn to uphold. On the other hand by enforcing the law to its fullest extent the police and state politicians have created a situation that should give foreign companies pause about conducting business in Alabama.

Doc makes a good point, if the boarders were better controlled by federal forces (that are already there and being paid to do the job) immigration laws like Alabama's wouldn't be needed. Of course that would mean that the boarder control agents would have to be allowed to fire live ammo instead of bean bags and tear gas.

“I’ve learned in life that if you make a mistake, you should be man enough to admit it,” says Dial. Alabama’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, perhaps the law’s most vocal supporter, told business leaders in early November that it is “very complicated” and should be simplified.

“One of my concerns is that this bill opened up some old wounds that it didn’t need to open,” says Dial. “All this stuff from the ‘50s and ‘60s -- Alabama is not like that anymore. The unfortunate thing about this whole bill is that it’s painted us what we’re not.”

Soulshiner wrote: “I’ve learned in life that if you make a mistake, you should be man enough to admit it,” says Dial. Alabama’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, perhaps the law’s most vocal supporter, told business leaders in early November that it is “very complicated” and should be simplified.

“One of my concerns is that this bill opened up some old wounds that it didn’t need to open,” says Dial. “All this stuff from the ‘50s and ‘60s -- Alabama is not like that anymore. The unfortunate thing about this whole bill is that it’s painted us what we’re not.”

Yes, I read all that. The real question is how much can be done to rectify the situation. It's great to admit having created a problem. He's obviously smart enough to know that something needs to be done about it as well.

From the perspective of a foreigner, I do not think that such an incident is going to prevent me from doing business. If anything, once I get past the irritation and pissed off attitude at having this difficulty, I may begrudgingly admire that they are looking after their state. I'd also let the car rental company know they now have a problem on their hands. This is where it all started plus the fact no one informs anyone in immigration about needing their passport on them while in the US. Then the local police needs to be educated on what constitutes a valid document for being in Alabama.

One of my coworkers just bought a vacation home in Alabama and they made him bring a birth certificate to the DMV just to register his truck. And he is very anglo looking so no profiling here.

The guy is from Germany...pretty sure they have immigration laws there that are pretty strict too. Plus you can't immigrate unless you are highly skilled.

If it had a Been a VW exec,,, well.

It seems to me that if the executive had possessed the proper documentation IE a green card or visa he would have been on his way with a warning.