NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Republican lawmakers across the country were already pushing their states deeper into immigration enforcement when the Supreme Court, if only briefly, let Texas enforce a new law that gave police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of being illegal to have crossed the border.
Within hours Tuesday, another court blocked the Texas law again. The same day, Iowa passed a similar bill.
In New Hampshire, lawmakers are nearing passage of legislation to let police file trespassing charges against people suspected of illegally entering the U.S. from Canada.
Georgia Republicans have introduced a proposal that would require eligible cities and counties to seek agreements to conduct immigration-related enforcement in prisons to help the federal government after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating nursing student Laken Riley to death at the campus of the University of Georgia. Immigration authorities say the man entered the US unlawfully in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum.
On Wednesday, the Senate honored Riley’s family. During the ceremony, her father, Jason Riley, blamed immigrant protection policies in Athens, where the University of Georgia is located, for his daughter’s death and urged Governor Brian Kemp to launch an “invasion ‘, Texas’s argument for a series of escalating measures along the border. Last month, a federal judge in Texas rejected those claims while blocking the state’s new arrest law.
‘A man with a bad heart stole her life. He was in this country and in this state illegally,” Jason Riley said. “My vision for every senator in this chamber is to protect citizens from this illegal invasion.”
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen which other Republican-led states, many of which are filing different bills and sending their National Guard members to the border, will embrace the Texas-style bill, especially if another court ruling in favor of the state is. Oklahoma isn’t waiting — House and Senate leaders embraced the idea of a Texas-style anti-immigration bill, with House Speaker Charles McCall announcing plans Wednesday to immediately introduce a similar measure.
The Biden administration is suing to block the measure in Texas, arguing it is a clear violation of federal authority that would wreak havoc on immigration law and wreak havoc on international relations.
Lawmakers in Tennessee are nearing the finish line on a proposal to require law enforcement agencies there to communicate with federal immigration authorities if they discover people are in the country illegally. For the brief time that Texas had every right to enforce its law on Tuesday, speakers of the Tennessee House and Senate expressed openness to considering a similar policy.
“We are monitoring the situation in Texas as Governor Abbott works to protect his state,” said House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said these types of immigration policies are typically driven by political motivation and pose serious complications for law enforcement agencies with limited resources and a lack of immigration expertise.
“Training a bunch of state officials in an area of enforcement where they have no background and zero training is an operational headache,” Chishti said.
Under the Iowa bill, entering the state after previously being denied entry into the U.S. would become an aggravated misdemeanor, or a misdemeanor, under certain circumstances, including if a person is arrested while committing another crime.
“The federal government has abdicated its responsibilities and states can and must act,” said Republican Rep. Steven Holt.
Democratic Rep. Sami Scheetz argued that immigration was constitutionally reserved for the federal government.
“Illegal immigration is a serious problem that requires action, but the approach outlined in this bill misses the heart of what it really means to address this problem with compassion, wisdom and effectiveness,” Scheetz said.
The bill awaiting Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature would go into effect July 1.
New Hampshire’s border law involving Canada, meanwhile, would only follow 21 apprehensions in the state between October 2022 and December 2023, while the U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement area, which includes New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Maine, is a dramatic event. increase in illegal border activities since 2021.
New Hampshire’s Republican-led Senate passed the misdemeanor law last month. Republicans have a smaller majority in the House of Representatives, but the bill’s sponsor, Senate President Jeb Bradley, expects it to pass.
Even with the Texas law on hold again, the former U.S. representative said he thinks courts are moving toward giving states more authority, which bodes well for legislation like his.
“The magnitude of the problem has gotten significantly worse,” Bradley said Wednesday. “We can’t wait for Congress.”
Some Democratic-led states are seeking to expand immigrant rights, including Maryland, where lawmakers are nearing a bill to obtain a federal waiver to let people buy health insurance through the state’s health care exchange regardless of immigration status.
In Massachusetts, which has struggled to find shelter for thousands of migrants pouring into the state, a bill is underway to limit the time homeless people can stay in emergency shelters to nine months, with an additional three months for those who work or pursue vocational training. programs.
Earlier this month, Arizona’s Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, vetoed a bill modeled on the Texas law. Since then, Republican lawmakers have vowed to pass a similar bill and send it to Hobbs.
Arizona lawmakers are pursuing a measure that would go to voters for approval, bypassing a potential Hobbs veto, which would require local governments that receive state money for welfare programs to use a federal employment verification database to check whether recipients are legally located in the US. and delete those that are not from the program.
Opponents see the Texas law as the most dramatic state attempt to control immigration since an Arizona law more than a decade ago, key parts of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. That law would have allowed police to arrest people for violations of federal immigration law, which opponents often refer to as the “show me your papers” law.
Among several legislation proposed in Republican-led states, Georgia has an additional bill that would punish cities and counties that Republicans say are using so-called sanctuary policies to illegally house immigrants who are in the country without permission by to end most state aid to these countries. local government and the removal of elected officials from office.
Florida has already passed legislation to increase penalties for immigrants who are in the country illegally and convicted of driving without a license or committing crimes.
Tennessee is also considering whether judges can sentence someone in the country illegally to life in prison without parole for a violent crime involving a deadly weapon or on school property. Another proposal from Tennessee would make it a crime to knowingly or recklessly transport someone who is in the country illegally into the state.
Immigrants held an advocacy day at the Tennessee Capitol on Tuesday as the Supreme Court’s temporary ruling took effect, shocking the group. Lisa Sherman Luna, the immigrant from Tennessee & The executive director of the Refugee Rights Coalition said the Texas law sets a “horrific precedent” for communities and the country.
“How ‘united’ will our states be if they each have different laws about who can call them home?” Luna said.
___
Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Steve LeBlanc in Boston; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; and Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.