President Donald Trump has taken a series of steps that have successfully — and considerably — decreased illegal border bridges. But as Iowa State Rep. Steven Holt said,” States have got to begin defending themselves” to — and several are doing just that.
Energized by the first White House in years to diligently enforce federal immigration rules, Republican-run states are moving quickly to help handle the consequences of unregulated illegal immigration, such as job loss, turbulent public schools, community plague, social services outlays, and disregard for the law. Legislatures currently in session are considering several essential bills to match federal efforts as poll numbers show good majorities of Americans support immigration enforcement.
” We now have a new president in the White House, but we had an administration for four years that did nothing on the southern border, allowed an invasion which impacted our citizens in a profound way”, Holt said.
In turn, the Iowa House voted to advance House Study Bill 15, which would make it a crime to smuggle an illegal alien or hide them from law enforcement.
Meanwhile Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law in January making it a crime for illegal immigrants who have previously been deported or barred from entering the country for illegally reentering Iowa. A federal appellate panel said Iowa could not enforce the law, with Judge Duane Benton writing for the court that the law could incentivize illegal immigrants” to move from Iowa to different states, forcing federal officials to expend limited resources to locate them” and “may antagonize foreign nations whose citizens are affected”.
Reynolds also instructed Iowa’s enforcement officials to “fully cooperate and assist” with federal deportation efforts.
Indiana State Reps. JB Prescott, Chris Jeter, Michelle Davis, and Garrett Bascom introduced HB 1531 in January that would compliment federal efforts to address illegal immigration.
The legislation would, in part, make clear that all Indiana law enforcement must honor an ICE detainer request to hold a person in custody for 48 hours. The legislation would also work to eliminate the incentive for illegal aliens to come to Indiana by creating licensing penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. Further, the proposed legislation would help the state gather data on migration into the state to best understand the impact illegal immigrants have on residents and state resources.
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has pledged to support the Defense Against Criminals Act, which would add enhanced penalties on violent illegal immigrants, according to Sanders.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills in February “designed to expedite deportations of undocumented immigrants”, according to Florida Phoenix. The legislation” will invest control of immigration enforcement in a new State Board of Immigration Enforcement” and will provide grants to local law enforcement that cooperate with federal immigration laws.
A separate law imposes the death penalty for illegal immigrants convicted of capital crimes. The legislation also repeals in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students. The law was initially put into place in 2014 by Gov. Rick Scott.
Looking ahead, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters filed the” Forms of Identification” act that would require state-issued ID cars and driver licenses to denote the citizenship status of the person. Anoth E-Verify to check the immigration status of a prospective r pie c hire.
Other legislation introduced would require “proof of citizenship to receive down payment assistance for housing, and prohibits wire transfers from illegal immigrants to another country”, as described by the Tallahassee Democrat.
The Idaho state legislature passed along party lines House Bill 83, which “would allow law enforcement to record a person’s documentation status only if they are already detained or under investigation for a crime”, according to Idaho Capital Sun. Illegal immigrants living in Idaho who engage in another crime would face a misdemeanor charge for “illegal entry”. The legislation also “aims to deport criminals who enter and reenter the state illegally and who are detained or investigated for a crime”, according to Idaho News 6.
Kentucky State Assembly Rep. Jared Bauman introduced legislation in February that would “uphold federal law and]to] support federal law enforcement agencies” to identify and detail illegal immigrants. The legislation would prohibit state law enforcement and other agencies from adopting sanctuary policies and would require law enforcement to work to support federal immigration law enforcement, as explained by Kentucky Today.
The Missouri state legislature killed a bill that would create a bounty hunter program that would track down illegal immigrants to help facilitate deportation. The proposal would have offered a$ 1, 000 reward. A similar bill has been proposed in Missouri.
Mississippi State Sen. Michael McLendon isn’t giving up the fight to secure his state and work with the Trump administration, introducing the Mississippi Immigration Custom Enforcement Act ( MICE). The MICE Act would create a program for state law enforcement to work with other law enforcement agencies to increase deportation efforts of illegal immigrants with criminal records.
Before the Montana state legislature is House Bill 536, which would revoke business licenses for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
” Having employers that are knowingly coming in and bringing in illegal aliens who they know should not be in our country, and they know that they should not be hiring them, and they’re intentionally doing that, there needs to be stiff penalties”, Rep. Lukas Schubert told Fox Business.
” Four years from now, we might be sitting in a situation where we have a Democrat president that is going to completely undo Trump’s border policy and bring back Biden’s border policy”, Schubert said.
The Montana House recently passed Bill 278, which would mandate law enforcement to check the immigration status of individuals during a traffic stop.
Notably, Montana currently bans sanctuary cities.
Several bills are working their way through the New Hampshire legislature. One bill that has passed the state House would prevent officials from “passing ordinances that would stop local police officers participating in ICE programs …” while another bill would make it so that the state does not recognize licenses issued to illegal immigrants by another state, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
Another bill introduced by New Hampshire state Rep. Travis Corcoran would tax “non-profit entities who settle illegal immigrants as for-profit entities”. The legislation would also permit the state to pay a reward to any person that reports on an organization that attempts to settle illegal immigrants. Another bill would require businesses to use E-Verify to ensure employers are not hiring illegal immigrants.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, R-N. H., released a statement in February supporting cooperation between state and federal law enforcement officers.
” It is critical for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities and protect our citizens”, Ayotte said. ” Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger should be apprehended and removed. I support and encourage New Hampshire law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE to enforce our laws and keep our communities safe”.
Oklahoma State Rep. David Hardin introduced House Bill 1362, which would allow an illegal immigrant to be charged with a felony if he is apprehended and arrested for violating a criminal law in the state.
Tennessee Rep. Johnny Garrett and Sen. Paul Bailey introduced SB791/HB1037 that would prevent illegal immigrants from suing local government in certain civil actions like negligence or compensation for medical malpractice. Another bill introduced by House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Senate. Bo Watson would allow schools and charter schools to “opt out” of enrolling illegal immigrants while a separate bill would require parents of illegal immigrants pay public school tuition and fees.
Meanwhile the Republican-led Tennessee House passed a series of reform in January that would, in part, punish any public official who votes in favor of a sanctuary city policy.
Meanwhile Utah Gov. Spencer Cox took preemptive action to support the Trump administration, announcing in November that the Utah Department of Public Safety and Utah Department of Corrections would coordinate with federal, state, and local partners to deport illegal immigrants” who have committed crimes and pose a threat to public safety”.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently signed an executive order directing state law enforcement and corrections officers” to assist with federal immigration enforcement” and allows” state and local law enforcement officials to be deputized to support federal immigration enforcement efforts”.
And just recently, legislation passed in Wyoming that would invalidate driver’s licenses issued to illegal immigrants from other states.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
