(Image Source: Mercedes)

BY JIM FLINK

A big oops for Alabama? Or a foreigner not recognizing the law?  Charges have been dropped against a German national for failing to have his paperwork during a traffic stop in Alabama, per the state’s immigration law.  The German was an executive with Mercedes. Fox News Latino has details.

“The arrest drew widespread attention because the German automaker is one of the state's leading employers, and its decision to build its first U.S. assembly plant in Alabama in 1993 provided the spark that helped lead to the state's large automotive industry, which includes foreign manufacturers Honda, Hyundai and Toyota.”

46-year-old Detlev Hager was later released when a friend brought his passport to police headquarters. In an article about all the things he’s thankful for in the Tennessee Chattanoogan, Roy Exum says, he’s thankful for the law, and for the police who followed it.

“... they escorted him to jail when he had no passport or driver’s license to comply with the state’s new immigration laws. Mercedes-Benz … is said to be miffed but anyone who drives without a license or suitable ID should be treated the same way.”

An MSNBC anchor on the Rachel Maddow show says, this was no oops. It was the law being carried out to the letter, until Alabama Governor Robert Bentley intervened.

“But that arrest is exactly what was supposed to happen.  Even though Governor Bentley may not have intended for it to happen to a German executive from Mercedes, a company which has already shown its discomfort with Alabama’s fraught racial history.”

In an op-ed piece, the Decatur-Daily says, it’s time to reconsider Alabama’s immigration law, immediately.

“The German did more to demonstrate the idiocy of the immigration law in one day than the law's opponents have managed in months. We are guessing that Gov. Robert Bentley has placed no urgent phone calls on behalf of Hispanics whose families were split up by the law. Yet he wasted no time calling the state's homeland security director after the arrest of the Mercedes executive in Tuscaloosa.”

Once word got out, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch couldn’t help but tee off, noting that the state of Missouri is currently offering $100 million in tax breaks to get car manufacturers to move in.

“Here's an idea: You should move your SUV plant to Missouri. We are the Show-Me State, not the ‘Show me your papers’ state.  Many of our founders came from your country, and at least two elements of traditional German heritage -- hard work and beer -- stuck.  You've got two choices. Either ask your executives to carry their immigration papers at all times, or move to a state that understands gemüchlichkeit.”

Which, according to the German-English dictionary, has something to do with a kinder, gentler treatment.  According to CNN, Mercedes employs 10,000 Alabama workers.