Hispanics Leave Ala. Schools

Hispanic students vanished from Alabama schools in the days after the state passed its tough new immigration law. Part of the new law requires schools to check the status of first-time enrollees. Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children, and may move out of the state. The exodus was so extreme that a superintendent in Huntsville went on a Spanish-language television show and tried to calm worried parents. "In the case of this law, our students do not have anything to fear," said the superintendent, saying that the state is only trying to collect immigration statistics. The Obama administration has filed documents announcing an attempt to appeal the law.