MONTGOMERY — On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Laken Riley Act by State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity), but ongoing Senate stalling and filibustering puts the bill in jeopardy of not reaching the finish line with only four legislative days remaining in the session.
House Bill 7 (HB7), also known as the Laken Riley Act, would authorize partnerships with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and any other federal agency to enforce federal immigration and customs laws.
Under the bill, a law enforcement officer "acting within the scope of his or her authority under any memorandum of understanding, agreement, or other authorization from the federal government may arrest, with probable cause, any individual suspected of being an illegal alien."
The bill cleared two House Committees and two public hearings. The House also approved the bill two weeks ago. With the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing the bill on Wednesday, all that remains is a final Senate vote before it can become law.
State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) also offered a minor amendment to the bill in committee, meaning the House must also approve the amended legislation before it can receive the governor’s signature.
Yarbrough presented the bill in committee, covering the various changes it has undergone through the legislative process, specifically from Democratic lawmakers. According to Yarbrough, the bill was honed through the process to ensure that law enforcement will only target illegal aliens who have committed crimes.
“We wanted to protect, for example, at the end of the bill, nothing in this is going to limit or abridge anybody’s Constitutional rights,” Yarbrough told the committee. “Another amendment we took was focusing, not on nationality, but immigration status. The bill also prohibits anyone from being detained solely on their immigration status.”
In keeping with the bill’s trend this session, Democratic lawmakers pushed back against the bill, expressing concerns with unjustly targeting immigrants, both legal and illegal.
State Sen. Vivian Figures (D-Mobile) pointed to recent instances in the Trump administration where some have been deported despite being U.S. citizens. However, she also freely admitted to not having read the bill.
“I just have so much apprehension about voting on any of these immigration bills these days in light of what’s going on at the federal level,” Figures said. “And they’re not even following due process.”
She continued, “I’m all for getting the criminals off the street. I’m all for people who are not supposed to be here, that they go through the legal parameters that they should to make it so.”
Despite the minor pushback, the bill cleared the committee with the only no votes coming from Democratic lawmakers.
Theoretically, the bill has ample time to reach final passage. However, Democratic lawmakers in the Senate have spent the past several weeks intentionally wasting time and filibustering legislation.
The Senate’s antics led to a significant slowdown on Tuesday evening, with the body concluding business just before midnight. Further slowdowns could prevent bills that aren’t heavily preferred by Senate leadership from reaching the finish line.
In addition to the enforcement provisions, the bill would also require quarterly immigration-related reporting by local jails and detention centers. Local governments would be responsible for ensuring compliance with the bill's provisions.
It also requires officers to act in "good faith" while enforcing the bill's provisions in compliance with existing laws.
The bill would additionally:
- Allow state and local government employees to maintain information relating to the immigration status of any individual.
- Allow state and local law enforcement officers to transport an illegal alien to the federal government's custody.
- Allow local law enforcement to arrest an illegal alien based on his or her status as an illegal alien or for violating any federal immigration law.
- Create standard procedures for the intake and booking illegal aliens and foreign nationals in county and municipal jails.
- Require jails to honor immigration detainer requests issued by the Department of Homeland Security in certain circumstances.
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