MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Several bills targeting illegal immigration, one of Alabama Republicans’ stated priorities for this session, could get their first votes in committee today.
They’re in the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee, chaired by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine. He’s a co-sponsor on several of the bills and said he expects them to get their first vote today.
“The issue (of illegal immigration) is certainly at the forefront right now,” Elliott told Alabama Daily News on Tuesday. “It has been at the forefront for us in the Alabama Legislature.
“The House and the Senate have worked closely on these issues and the message really is that we want to complement what President (Donald) Trump is doing in Washington. And to the extent that we can, we’re going to, A, make it hard to be an illegal immigrant in Alabama and B, if you break some of these laws, you’re going to get detained, you’re going to get charged with a crime and the feds are likely to deport you.”
Senate Bill 53, sponsored by Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, creates the crime of human smuggling if someone transports into Alabama someone they know or should know is an undocumented immigrant. It’s a Class C felony.
The bill also specifies the steps jails must take to determine the immigration status of those they detain and get them to federal custody if they are not in the country legally.
Senate Bill 55, by Elliott, would change current law to say Alabama will not recognize out-of-state driver’s licenses that are issued to people who did not prove their legal status at the time of issuance.
Senate Bill 62, by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Riverside, says people can’t use hunting licenses or any other license issued by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources “as a valid or supplemental form of government issued identification…”
Senate Bill 63, also sponsored by Bell, requires law enforcement agencies to fingerprint and get DNA samples from undocumented immigrants in their custody and turn them over to state law enforcement.
Senate Bill 66, by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, expands forged instrument laws to make it a Class D felony to knowingly present forged documents to government agencies.
Senate Bill 77, by Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, will put additional fees on wire transfers out of the country. Taxpayers would get their fees back in the form of a tax credit when they file their returns.
The bills are sponsored by lawmakers who visited the U.S.’s southern border last year. And while there are several GOP co-sponsors on each, there is also one Democrat, Sen. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham, on several of them.