MONTGOMERY — After some pushback from Democratic lawmakers, the Alabama House of Representatives sent one bill addressing illegal immigration to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for her signature and another to the Senate to agree on changes.
The House gaveled in on Tuesday for the final week of voting at the Montgomery State House. In these final days, both the House and Senate are taking up each other’s bills since bills that have not cleared at least one body cannot pass.
With the conversation surrounding illegal immigration in both state and national politics, lawmakers made tackling illegal immigration at multiple levels a priority this legislative session.
The House filed several immigration-related bills, all currently awaiting approval in the Senate.
With only one day remaining for lawmakers to vote, the chances of most of them reaching the finish line are slim.
On Tuesday, the House passed two bills related to illegal immigration, sending one for Ivey to sign and another back to the Senate for approval before it can go to the governor.
First on the floor was Senate Bill 53 (SB53) by State Sen. Wes Kitchen (R-Arab), carried in the House by State Rep. Ben Robbins (R-Sylacauga). The bill would require all state, county and municipal jails to attempt to determine whether an individual arrested and detained in the jail is an illegal alien under certain circumstances. It would also create the Class C felony crime of human smuggling for those who transport a known illegal alien into the state.
The bill requires the federal government to verify a suspect's immigration status and forbids a state agent from independently making a final determination of an alien's status. It also sets the standards for local police when working with the federal government to determine a person's status, including confinement limits and procedures for coordinating with the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The bill was amended to clarify that the criminal human smuggling charge would not apply to lawyers transporting clients, or for an educator or other employee of an educational entity to transport a student as part of an official educational activity, for non-commercial, religious, or charitable purposes and healthcare providers. The Senate must still agree upon the amendments before it can become law.
SB53 received significant pushback from some Democratic lawmakers, claiming it was an effort to target or profile certain groups of people.
State Rep. Phillip Ensler (D-Montgomery) stated that, while the exceptions made the bill “less bad,” they did not sufficiently cover situations where a person could be innocently transporting someone known to be an illegal alien.
“Does that not concern you that people just doing innocent things; going to visit family [or] going to joyous occasions like a wedding, that all of a sudden they can be charged with a felony for smuggling?” Ensler asked.
“I think that we’ve got a serious problem in the state, in the country, of people transporting individuals for commercial reasons and exploiting them for cheap labor,” Robbins replied. “Exploiting them and devaluing them as human beings, and taking from them things that they never should have, whether that be their time [or] their money. And I think that we have to do something to try to address that problem.”
After additional scattered protests by Democratic lawmakers, the House eventually passed SB53 with a vote of 80-18.
Next up was Senate Bill 63 (SB63) by State Sen. Lance Bell (R-Pell City), which 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.
State Rep. Mark Shirey (R-Mobile) carried the bill in the House.
The bill also forms the Alabama DNA Database Fund in the State Treasury to fund its provisions. New fees will provide the necessary funds for the fund. A $2 fee will be imposed on all municipal, district, and circuit court civil cases and upon initiation, attachment, garnishment, or execution proceedings.
In all municipal, district and circuit court criminal cases, in bond forfeiture proceedings, and upon the issuance of any arrest warrant, the imposed fee is $15.
In parting with this session’s norms, which have seen Democratic lawmakers resisting immigration-related legislation throughout the session, SB63 received no debate and cleared the House floor with a 76-7 vote in under a minute.
SB63 made it through the House without any amendments, sending it straight to Ivey’s desk to be signed into law.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning
