A federal appeals court Thursday blocked two more sections of Alabama’s tough new law targeting illegal immigration pending the outcome of lawsuits that seek to overturn the law entirely. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order temporarily halting a section that says courts can’t enforce contracts involving illegal immigrants and another that makes it a felony for an illegal immigrant to do business with the state. The law adopted last year was challenged by the federal government and a coalition of activist groups. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit heard arguments last week but said it wouldn’t rule on the overall case until the Supreme Court decided a federal challenge to a similar law in Arizona. The appeals court is also weighing Georgia’s new immigration law. Lawyers in the Alabama case had asked the court to stop the two sections and others, at least temporarily, contending that they were harming people in the state. – Associated press 03.09.2012
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