The Senate met this morning, introducing bills 823-892, adopting resolutions 28 and 30, and advancing five bills to the House.
Senate Bill 615 would require individuals with an illegal immigration status to be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported.
If the same individual is present in the state under an illegal immigration status for a second time, they would be guilty of a felony offense and would be incarcerated in a state penitentiary for 3-5 years, and following their release, would be sent to ICE for deportation.
Under the proposed bill, law enforcement can suspect an individual is in the United States under an illegal immigration status only if the officer is detaining the person for a separate legal issue and chooses to report the individual to ICE.
Separate legal issues include, but aren’t limited to:
- Speeding
- Broken headlight, taillight, brake light, or turn signal
- Expired registration or inspection
- Checkpoint stops (DUI or license checkpoints)
- Illegal turn or U – turn
“This bill puts good people at risk,” Senator Joey Gracia (D – Marion,13) said, raising concerns that individuals here as United States Citizens fear future interactions with law enforcement due to assumptions about their ethnicity or perceived immigration status.
Senator Patricia Rucker (R – Jefferson, 16), had a different perspective.
“As the only member of this body that is an immigrant, I support this legislation,” Rucker said. “I never once had any problems with law enforcement or questions that made me feel uncomfortable; this protects Americans and law enforcement.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis (R-Berkeley, 15) closed by stating that when you boil this legislation down, it’s simply about state law enforcement agencies helping to enforce federal laws that have been on the books for years.
After debate, the bill passed and was reported to the House of Delegates for consideration.
Senate Bill 440 would make it a felony to transport telecommunication devices into a state correctional facility.
If an individual attempts to deliver anything into a state correctional facility to aid or facilitate another individual’s escape, they would be guilty of a felony and would be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.
All bills on third reading passed and were reported to the House of Delegates for consideration.
Afternoon Meetings:
Transportation and Infrastructure at 1 p.m. in Room 451M
Pensions at 2 p.m. in Room 451M
Energy, Industry, and Mining at 2 p.m. in Room 208W
Finance at 3 p.m. in Room 451M
Judiciary at 3 p.m. in Room 208W
Morning Meetings for Feb. 10:
Education at 9:30 a.m. in Room 451M
Government Organization at 9:30 a.m. in Room 208W
The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow, Feb. 10, at 11 a.m.
