Judge lets key parts of Ala. immigration law stand

BIRMINGHAM - A federal judge has refused to block key parts of Alabama's new law on illegal immigration, including its requirement to check the immigration status of students.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn blocked some other parts of the law, which both supporters and critics say is the nation's toughest clampdown on illegal immigration by a state.

Blackburn said in her ruling issued Wednesday that federal law doesn't prohibit the state from requiring schools to check the immigration status of students or from requiring police to determine the status of suspected illegal immigrants.

She upheld the Obama administration's objections to other sections of the law, including making it a crime for an illegal immigrant to solicit work or for anyone to transport or harbor an illegal immigrant.