'Twilight' Director Chris Weitz Takes On Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law

By Kenneth Quinnell — February 16, 2012

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"An Alabama Mother Speaks"

Chris Weitz, director of the popular "Twilight" movies, directed a series of videos taking on Alabama's anti-immigrant law; the strictest in the the country. The campaign, titled "Is This Alabama?" launched with four compelling videos.

In June 2011 Alabama enacted H.B. 56—the most extreme state-level anti-immigrant bill passed to date—which went into effect in September. Now Hollywood director Chris Weitz has turned the camera on Alabama and is asking “Is This Alabama?”

In addition to the videos, the website also features resources on learning more about the bill and why it is even worse that Arizona's SB 1070:

Alabama’s law, H.B. 56, similar to Arizona’s infamous S.B. 1070, is intended to make every facet of life so difficult and uncomfortable for undocumented immigrants and their families that they leave the state.

In schools: H.B. 56 requires schools to check and report the immigration status of their students and bars undocumented students from public state colleges and universities.

On the street: H.B. 56 requires police to demand proof of citizenship or valid immigration status from anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally, even on a routine traffic stop or roadblock.

At home: H.B. 56 invalidates any contract knowingly entered into with an illegal alien, including such routine agreements as rental contracts, and makes it a felony for an unauthorized immigrant to enter into a contract with a government entity.

In Alabama: H.B. 56 effectively makes it a crime to be undocumented in the state.