(Image Source: Daily Political)

BY MILA MIMICA

A federal judge is letting Alabama go ahead with most of its controversial immigration law. That’s following a lawsuit from the Justice Department.
CBS catches us up.

“One of the nation’s strictest immigration laws goes into effect in Alabama this morning. A federal judge upheld key parts of the law yesterday. It allows public schools to check the immigration status of students and police can question anyone they think is in the country illegally.”

As MSNBC explains, this means a regular traffic stop in the state could lead to much more.

“After they detain them for a minor infraction they then can start going to the next question which is one about immigration, ‘Do you have your papers, are you here legally, show me that you’re here legally...’ and that’s the real big question here because it suggests that it gives officers authority to profile.”

A writer for the Christian Science Monitor points out that the implications of the law have already made waves among immigrants in the state.

“The state's agriculture commissioner says some farmers are mourning squash rotting in the fields, after migrant workers either left or avoided the state, some in fear that their children would be used as deportation tools as schools next week begin checking the immigration status of incoming students.”

But as Alabama’s WBRC reports -- what some call the law’s toughest provisions were nixed.

‘Exactly, the ones about if you transport an illegal alien you commit a crime you harbor an illegal immigrant you commit a crime, all of those got struck down and that was the focus of the lawsuit.’”

And Fox News adds - the law could have huge implications on the national stage.

“This Alabama decision sets the stage for a much broader series of Supreme Court decisions that dramatically expand the role of parallel state authority in helping enforce immigration law.”

Finally, a constitutional law expert tells The Washington Post -- more state versus federal government fights could be ahead.

“I don’t recall any time in history that the Justice Department has so aggressively challenged state laws...”

The Alabama case has already been appealed to the Supreme Court, which will decide within the next couple of months whether it wants to hear case.