Missouri House Passes Legislation to Crack Down on Illegal Immigration

This from a State House press release:

Jefferson City, MO- The Missouri House gave final approval this week to an omnibus anti-illegal immigration bill that would help stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming into the state. Rep. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, who serves as Vice Chair of the Immigration Committee, was the lead sponsor of the legislation (HB 1549, 1771, 1395 & 2366) that combines several bills originally sponsored by Reps. Gary Dusenberg, R-Blue Springs; Kenny Jones, R-California; and Mark Parkinson, R-St. Charles.

"It's fair to say one of our top priorities this session is creating effective policies and tools to help our state deal with the overwhelming number of illegal immigrants within our borders," said Rep. Onder. "The legislation we approved will provide law enforcement with the tools and training necessary to effectively combat this problem and also makes it clear Missouri will not tolerate turning a blind eye to the activities of unlawful aliens. We've sent a strong message with the passage of the legislation and I am confident our colleagues in the Senate will move quickly to approve it as well."

One provision of the legislation that was originally sponsored by Rep. Dusenberg would outlaw "sanctuary cities" that follow practices that protect illegal immigrants. Specifically, it prohibits local governments from adopting policies limiting the ability of local officials to communicate with the federal government about potential immigration violations.

"There are many cities in this nation that have adopted a policy that does not comply with federal immigration law and they in effect have become safe havens for illegal immigrants," said Rep. Dusenberg. "With our bill we are making it clear that no city in Missouri will become a sanctuary city and we will not accept policies that allow illegal activities to go unchecked."

Other provisions of the bill would provide new tools and training for law enforcement officers to combat illegal immigration. One originally sponsored by Rep. Onder would allow the Superintendent of the State Highway Patrol to designate some members of the patrol to be trained in enforcing federal immigration laws. Another that was originally sponsored by Rep. Kenny Jones would require law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of any person incarcerated for a crime.

"Last year the governor directed the Missouri Highway Patrol to begin checking the immigration status of those they arrest and since that time they have turned over more than 150 illegal immigrants to federal authorities," said Rep. Jones "This policy is proven to be effective in combating the problem of illegal immigration and enacting it into law is the right thing to do."

"While we ask our troopers to take on this task of stemming the tide of illegal immigrants it's also important we give them the training they need to be effective," Rep. Onder said. "We have only 48 Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials in this state and they simply cannot cover all areas of the state. By training our own law enforcement officials we give them some much-needed assistance in dealing with problems associated with illegal immigration."

The bill takes an additional step to combat the problem of illegal immigration by creating penalties for anyone who assists an illegal alien in obtaining a driver's license. Individuals who assist an illegal alien in obtaining a license would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

"The right to obtain a driver's license is reserved for legal residents of our state and we will not allow individuals who circumvent the law to go unpunished," said Rep. Mark Parkinson, who sponsored the original bill containing the penalty provision. "We must take every step to protect the process of obtaining a driver's license and not allow those who are here illegally to access a privilege reserved only for citizens of this nation."

Also, the legislation would require the commercial driver's license written test to only be given in English and would prohibit translators from being allowed for applicants who take the test.

House Bill 1549 now moves to the Senate for consideration.