States that issue laws against irregular migrants: the new secession

In the USA we are witnessing a sort of new secession, but a creeping one: the states governed by Republicans – Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Oklahoma – are taking matters relating to border security into their own hands , proposing or approving laws that aim to limit or prohibit illegal immigration. With the help of the Epoch Times we try to summarize these measures

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma legislature has just passed a bill aimed at banning illegal immigrants from entering or living in the state.

HB 4156 states that: “ A person commits unlawful occupation if he or she is an alien and voluntarily and without permission enters and remains in the State of Oklahoma without first obtaining lawful authority to enter the United States.”

The bill passed the House and Senate by wide margins and Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, is expected to sign it into law.

The Legislature declared the issue a crisis in the state and stated in the bill that: “Across the state, law enforcement officers daily and increasingly come into contact with foreign nationals who have entered the country illegally or who remain there illegally.

“Often these individuals are involved in organized crime, such as drug cartels, have no regard for Oklahoma laws and public safety, and produce or are involved in the distribution of fentanyl, sex trafficking, and labor trafficking ”.

Under the new law, a “prohibited entry” conviction will be considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.

Subsequent infractions are felonies, punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Illegal immigrants who are barred from entering the country or issued a removal order by an immigration judge, and then enter Oklahoma, will face a felony charge with a possible sentence up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

In all cases, individuals found guilty must leave Oklahoma within 72 hours of conviction or release from custody.

To enable enforcement of the law, police are expected to collect fingerprints, photographs and biometric data, which will be cross-referenced with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation databases.

“The federal government's failure to address this problem … has turned every state into a border state,” State Representative Charles McCall, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement.

“Those who want to work through the legal arrival process in our country are more than welcome to come to Oklahoma; we would be happy to have them here. We will not reward [illegal immigration] to Oklahoma and we will protect our state's borders.”

U.S. border authorities have apprehended more than 9 million illegal immigrants nationwide under President Joe Biden, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). So they left them free, according to the “Catch and release” principle

Texas

Texas law, Senate Bill 4, makes it a state crime to enter Texas outside of legal ports of entry.

The new law was supposed to take effect in March, but was blocked and is currently stuck in court.

The laws of Florida

When it comes to making life more difficult for illegal immigrants through legislation, Florida has been as aggressive as Texas.

In addition to beefing up law enforcement to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in identifying immigrants and sending the Florida National Guard to Texas, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has passed laws to discourage illegal aliens from remaining in his state.

The Republican governor signed SB 1718 into law in 2023, which has been criticized by the left as one of the most anti-illegal immigrant laws in the country.

New laws in Iowa, Tennessee and Georgia

Earlier this month, Iowa's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, signed Senate File 2340 into law.

The new law, which takes effect July 1, makes it a crime to be in the state or attempt to enter the state after being deported, if denied admission to the United States, or if an individual has a pending expulsion.

Illegal stay in the State becomes a crime in certain circumstances, such as if the accused has two or more convictions for drug crimes or crimes against the person.

As with the Texas law, judges have the discretion to drop charges if the illegal immigrant agrees to return to the country from which he or she entered the United States.

The Govt. Tennessee 's Bill Lee signed a new law this month that requires law enforcement to communicate with federal immigration authorities if they discover people are in the country illegally, in most cases requiring cooperation in the identification process , capture, detention and expulsion.

The law will come into force on July 1.

“When there is an interaction with law enforcement, it is important that the appropriate authorities are informed of the status of that individual,” Mr. Lee, a Republican, told reporters after signing the law. “I think it makes sense. So, I am in favor of this law."

Tennessee House members blamed President Biden for the lack of border enforcement.

In Georgia, lawmakers passed House Bill 1105 requiring jailers to check the immigration status of inmates.

The bill is part of an ongoing political response to the February murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

The man, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was arrested in February on charges of murder and assault in the death of the 22-year-old.

Immigration officials say Mr. Ibarra, 26, entered the United States illegally in 2022. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Sen. Lindsey Graham that Mr. Ibarra was paroled to enter the country illegally in due to “capacity issues” in border detention facilities. In short, there was no longer room for him.

Georgia's bill was sent to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on April 3 and awaits his signature, at which point most of the measures will take effect immediately.

Louisiana, Arizona, New Hampshire

Texas' neighbor, Louisiana , is considering passage of SB 388, a GOP-led bill that would allow state police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants within the state.

The bill passed the House on April 8 along party lines and is headed to the House, also controlled by Republicans.

“Louisiana is one step closer to securing our border and addressing the illegal immigration crisis,” Republican Senator Valarie Hodges, the bill's sponsor, wrote in X.

The state of Arizona passed a law similar to Texas' HB 4, but Democratic Gov. Katy Hobbs vetoed it.

That inspired the state legislature to draft a ballot measure to go before voters in November that would require businesses to use E-verify. E-verify is a voluntary online federal service that allows employers to verify an employee's eligibility to work in the United States against Department of Homeland Security and Social Security data.

Republican-led New Hampshire passed SB 504 allowing police to charge trespassing against people suspected of entering the United States illegally from Canada. The measure must be approved by the House to advance.

Cities and counties

Cities and counties in red and blue states are also reacting creatively to prevent illegal immigrants from entering their jurisdictions.

“They're basically being dumped on their doorstep,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a “pro-immigrant, low-immigration” think tank.

In June 2023, New York City, under Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, sued more than 30 New York local governments, alleging that they had issued illegal executive orders banning temporary housing for illegal immigrants in their jurisdictions .

Counties like Orange and Rockland, in upstate New York, have succeeded in using local zoning regulations to prevent the mayor from bringing illegal immigrants to live in their hotels.

The state Supreme Court granted Rockland a temporary restraining order against the mayor's plan after the county argued that local zoning laws prevent hotels from operating as shelters.

Orange County got a similar ruling.

Similarly, the town of Taunton, Massachusetts, used zoning to prevent illegal immigrants from living in hotels, Ms. Vaughan said.

As of May 2023, the state was paying millions of dollars to house about 120 homeless and immigrant families in a local hotel on a long-term basis.

The consequence of these laws: more immigrants in Democratic states

The consequences of these rules will not be absolute, in the sense that they will not completely stop the passage of irregular immigrants in these states, but they will make their lives more complex. The consequence is that these will prefer to move towards Democratic states, such as California, Illinois or New York, all states that already strongly feel migratory pressure.

The greater concentration will lead to a greater cost for their reception and greater insecurity for the local populations. We will have a real secession between welcoming and less welcoming states.

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The article States that issue laws against irregular migrants: the new secession comes from Economic Scenarios .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/stati-che-emettono-leggi-contro-i-migranti-irregolari-la-nuova-secessione/ on Sat, 27 Apr 2024 07:00:20 +0000.