MONTGOMERY — State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough's (R-Trinity) Laken Riley Act, House Bill 13 (HB13), passed the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday afternoon. The bill would allow state-based law enforcement to voluntarily enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with federal law enforcement.
"I am very optimistic that this bill will pass [this year]," Yarbrough told 1819 News in an interview following the vote. He said that the House speaker told him the bill is a "priority."
"I've talked to Senator Gudger, and he says this bill is something that he wants to see get through," he said, referring to State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman).
In describing the bill, Yarbrough reminded members that the legislation, which passed the same committee during last year's session, would allow state-based law enforcement to voluntarily enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with federal law enforcement.
State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) gave several lengthy monologues during the discussion on the bill, primarily focusing on issues unrelated to the bill, including offering up a lesson on the differences between probable cause and reasonable suspicion and his thoughts on national Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement issues.
Following England's meandering comments, State Rep. Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) asked Yarbrough to confirm that the bill specifically stated probable cause as the standard, which it does.
That section of the bill clearly reads:
"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."
After additional back-and-forth over hypothetical situations or unreasonable fears, Yarbrough pointed out that the bill was amended last year to address concerns from Democrats. The final line now reads, "Nothing in this act shall limit or abridge any right created or recognized by the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, or the Constitution of the United States."
When asked about the scare tactics used by opponents of the bill and biased media, Yarbrough told 1819 News that the concerns are inflated.
"We're not Minnesota, and the people who are the bad actors there, the rioters and the protesters, who want to stir up this idea of this caricature of law enforcement, that they're out there just Gestapo, Nazi sytle snagging people, picking people up because of their appearance is just simply blatantly false smear tactics created a caricature of how the bill is going to be enforced," Yarbrough said.
"The reality is, that in Alabama, we respect law enforcement. We respect the duty of the federal government to enforce immigration laws. And this deal reflects a very good faith reality that law enforcement in Alabama is going to work with the federal government to do their constitutional and their lawful duties to enforce not only removing criminals, but the laws that are on the books."
Yarbrough pushed back against Democrat concerns that the bill would harm American citizens.
"Vice President JD Vance said in a recent press conference, he made the point that in Minnesota we're seeing these things go sideways, because state and local authorities or government officials are stoking fears and encouraging misrepresentation and this characterization of federal law enforcement agencies with these terrible names like Gestapo or Nazis or whatever, and what VP Vance made the point that what we want is to work with state and local law enforcement in order to properly do our job," he said. "Again, we don't want to detain anybody because of the color of their skin. We don't want to detain American citizens, right? What we do we want to do is work with local law enforcement."
"This will actually, to JD's point, by encouraging state and local law enforcement to initiate and work with that old government and way, those fears are gone," he added.
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 or become a member to gain access to exclusive content and 1819 News merch.
