Bills targeting illegal immigration and completing the Trump administration’s related policies were a priority of Republicans coming into the 2025 legislative session and multiple bills were filed and received initial votes early.
None have crossed the legislative finish line yet, but this could change in the remaining three voting days of the session.
Two of the bills are on the proposed House calendar for Tuesday.
“Our members have put a lot of work in on those bills, so I hope to get as many out as possible,” House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, told Alabama Daily News. “We will continue working with the Senate to make the most of the session’s remaining days.”
The Legislature is expected to have two voting days this week and a final day next week.
“Both the Senate and the House have introduced and approved measures addressing immigration, and I am confident that when the session adjourns, we will have a combined package that supplements the work being done by President Trump and his team on the federal level,” Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, told ADN.
“Speaker Ledbetter and I remain in constant communication regarding the priority bills that we expect each chamber to address in the session’s closing days,” he said.
Several of the bills are on the House calendar for Tuesday.
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 was amended in a House committee to add some exemptions for the transportation ban, including for health care providers transporting patients, for charitable purposes or for any governmental purpose.
The bill also specifies the steps jails must take to determine the immigration status of those they detain and get them into federal custody if they are not in the country legally.
If approved in the House, the bill will have to go back to the Senate for agreement on changes.
Senate Bill 63, also sponsored by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Riverside, requires law enforcement agencies to fingerprint and get DNA samples from undocumented immigrants in their custody and turn them over to state law enforcement.
Those bills and several others passed by the Senate have been awaiting House votes for about two months. Including:
Senate Bill 55, by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine. It 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 Bell. It 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…” It’s been waiting for a House vote since late February.
Senate Bill 66, by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston. It expands forged instrument laws to make it a Class D felony to knowingly present forged documents to government agencies.
Legislation was filed in the House and Senate to 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 tax returns. Sen. April Weaver’s Senate Bill 77 stalled in that chamber, but Rep. Jennifer Fidler’s House Bill 297 was approved in the House last week, but was changed to remove the fee. Instead, it would require more reporting on transactions by the transfer companies. The bill now needs a Senate committee and full chamber vote.
Several other House bills are a vote or two from final passage.
House Bill 302 by Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, would require labor brokers that recruit six or more foreign workers per year to register with the Department of Workforce and use the federal E-Verify program, which confirms the eligibility of employees to work in the United States. The bill also establishes penalties for noncompliance, including fines of up to $500 per infraction and criminal penalties up to a Class C felony for providing false information or employing unauthorized workers. The state’s 2011 immigration bill said employers in the state have to use E-Verify, but efforts to force compliance have previously died.
The bill awaits a Senate vote and would need another House vote to agree on a Senate committee change.
House Bill 298 by Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, would exclude certain English language learner students from a public school’s average daily membership when determining athletic competition classification. The bill has passed the House but needs Senate committee and full Senate votes.
House Bill 3 by Rep. Chip Brown, R- Hollingers Island, would mandate enhanced criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants convicted of felony crimes against minors. It also needs two votes in the Senate.
HB304 by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, would authorize the impoundment of vehicles operated unlawfully by Alabamians without a driver’s license. It awaits a Senate vote.
Elliott told ADN he’s optimistic his driver license bill and Kiel’s impoundment bill will get final approval as they are complementary. As of late last week, the Senate hadn’t set its Tuesday calendar.
“I’m hopeful that there’ll be House immigration bills on it and then we continue that through Wednesday to get the vast majority of these passed.”