Is Alabama the New Alabama? Suit Challenges Alabama’s Denial of Marriage Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants

Alabama seems to be the source of an incredible amount of immigration news. In a class action lawsuit filed on October 19, the Southern Poverty Law Center challenged a policy of the probate offices across Alabama that deny undocumented individuals and U.S. citizens whose intended spouses are undocumented their constitutional right to marry. The policy, enforced in 54 of Alabama’s 67 counties, requires noncitizens who are seeking to obtain a marriage license to provide proof of their legal presence through a visa, green card or similar immigration document. The suit also challenges policies that require, without exception, marriage license applicants to provide a Social Security card, which undocumented persons cannot obtain.

Here is the complaint in the case, which sounds errily reminiscent of Loving v. Virginia (1967) (invalidating Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law).

KJ