BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) ? Alabama lawmakers passed a new bill to revise the state?s controversial immigration law on Wednesday, hoping to fend off more legal challenges to the toughest state measure on immigration in the United States.
The bill, whose final approval now rests with Alabama?s governor, largely keeps intact a law approved last year that has sparked lawsuits by the Obama administration and immigrant rights groups who argue it is unconstitutional.
Businesses in Alabama, especially farmers, have also protested the law, known as HB 56, saying it has led to widespread departures of Hispanic workers from the state and created a labor shortage.
Lawmakers in the state House of Representatives voted 68-37 to approve the revised bill hours after it passed the Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans.
Alabama Republicans who support the immigration law say it will help create jobs for legal residents by driving out undocumented workers and their families.
The changes to the law include a new provision allowing the Department of Homeland Security to publish on a quarterly basis the names of illegal immigrants who appear in court on charges of violating state law whether they have been convicted or not.
Proponents of the changes said they hoped the revisions would clarify and strengthen some portions of the
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