Proposed legislation calls on local law enforcement to check immigration status (TX)

[The Straight Story]

Proposed legislation calls on local law enforcement to check immigration status

Two state senators filed legislation this week requiring law enforcement officers to inquire about the immigration status of people under arrest.

The proposal by Republican Sens. Chris Harris of Arlington and Craig Estes of Wichita Falls states that a person under arrest who is found to have violated civil or criminal immigration laws must be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A bill filed Nov. 8 by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, goes farther by requiring law enforcement officers to investigate the immigration status of anyone stopped, detained or arrested on other grounds.

But those bills would conflict with a practice already implemented at the Hidalgo and Starr county jails through ICE’s Secure Communities program, which scans the fingerprints of every new inmate, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño. The fingerprints are electronically compared with federal and state databases, helping to identify people with criminal records and those who have previously been arrested for illegally entering the country.

The proposed legislation would require his deputies become versed in immigration law that federal law enforcement officers spend hundreds of hours learning, Treviño said.

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/immigration-45523-enforcement-status.html

[aquart]

1. Texas doesn't need tourism. Or deserve it.