DHS not helping Alabama enforce immigration law

WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security is not helping state and local officials in Alabama implement the state's new immigration law that allows local authorities to detain people they suspect are in the country illegally.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the Obama administration opposes the law and is challenging it in federal court.

Napolitano said DHS is working with the Department of Justice in its lawsuit.

A federal appeals court in Atlanta earlier this month temporarily blocked a provision in the law allowing public schools to check the immigration status of students. The court did allow local police to question people's legal status.