MONTGOMERY — Most of the bills in an immigration package introduced by Republicans in the Alabama Senate passed along party lines on Thursday.
Legislation establishing a wire transfer fee on international electronic wire transfers was carried over due to the constitutional requirement that bills raising revenue have to start in the House.
Senate Bill 77 by State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) would establish a fee of $7.50 on international electronic wire transfers plus 1.5% of the amount over $500. The fees would be deposited in the Sheriffs' Immigration Enforcement and Detainer Fund in the State Treasury to fund sheriffs for costs and expenses related to enforcing immigration laws and housing violators of immigration laws. Taxpayers would get a tax credit against income taxes in the amount of all international electronic wire transfer fees paid by the customer.
Senate Bills 63, 53 and 55 all passed the Senate on Thursday.
Senate Bill 63 by State Sen. Lance Bell (R-Pell City) would require law enforcement agencies to collect fingerprints and DNA from any illegal alien in the agency's custody and submit the fingerprints and DNA for testing or cataloging.
“We already collect DNA from many individuals that are arrested and this just adds one more class of individuals. Any felony or misdemeanor sex crimes arrest that’s occurring in the state of Alabama, you’re already having DNA, fingerprint, photographs now this will add to that. Any arrest whether it’s a public intoxication or anything of that nature and you can not prove your citizenship, your DNA swab will be taken and put into our database,” Bell said.
Senate Bill 53 by State Sen. Wes Kitchens (R-Arab) would establish a crime of human smuggling and a process for law enforcement to determine if a detainee is an illegal alien. The bill was amended to remove part of the bill that would’ve also created the crime of concealing an illegal alien.
“That whole section was taken out other than the human smuggling piece so that was just a compromise that we worked on working with all members in the body where we could have a bill that we felt like would be the best thing and really get the bill back to the original intent: if you’re here illegally, if you break the law, if you’ve been put in handcuffs and taken to jail, law enforcement has the tools that they need to be able to verify your status,” Kitchens said.
The bills were mostly opposed by Democrats.
“A lot of this is just grandstanding, pomp and circumstances, and I think we just need to settle down,” Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) said.
Senate Bill 55 by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) would invalidate the use of any driver's license that explicitly indicates it was issued to an individual who did not exercise the option of providing proof of lawful presence in the United States when obtaining the license. The bill would also prevent a nonresident from qualifying for an exemption to the Alabama driver's license requirement if the nonresident's license explicitly indicates that it was issued to an individual who did not exercise the option of providing proof of lawful presence in the United States when obtaining the license.
“If they’re here illegally and don’t have any proof that they’re here legally, didn’t prove that when they got a driver’s license in another state then we’re not going to honor their license here in Alabama,” Elliott told reporters on Thursday.
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