FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2005
CONTACT: Chris Paulitz
SENATOR HUTCHISON TO INTRODUCE IMMIGRATION BILL
TO STRENGTHEN STATE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY
Creates licensed, volunteer border marshall program
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‘There is no doubt the Minutemen highlighted the dire need for more agents to patrol our borders.’
WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today will introduce immigration legislation that would give state and local officials expanded authority to arrest, detain and prosecute illegal aliens as well as create a Volunteer Border Marshall Program.
Senator Hutchison is introducing the bill the same day she is meeting with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in her Washington, D.C. office to discuss broad immigration reform measures and the new provisions outlined in her bill.
“Our borders have been hemorrhaging for too long. It is a national security and safety threat to our nation,” Sen. Hutchison said. “Elected officials and residents from border and non-border states alike want to see action to secure our homeland and enforce our laws.”
The authority of state and local law enforcement officials to enforce immigration laws has been limited to the criminal provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which defines criminal and civil enforcement measures. The physical crossing of the border illegally is a criminal violation under the INA. By contrast, the enforcement of civil violations, which includes apprehension and removal of deportable aliens who are already in the country, has strictly been viewed as a federal responsibility.
Sen. Hutchison’s bill would remove barriers to state and local prosecution for both criminal and civil immigration violations. It would allow communities to take enforcement action based on their own interests but restricts their actions to limits imposed under federal law. Power over naturalization will continue to be determined at the federal level as defined by the Constitution under the new legislation.
In order to strengthen border security and reduce the strain on local and federal border officials, Sen. Hutchison’s bill also would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to create a Volunteer Border Marshall Program. The program will assist the Department of Homeland Security to secure our borders using already trained, state-licensed peace officers in a volunteer capacity. The volunteers could be sworn in and assigned to the Border Patrol on temporary missions to identify and control illegal immigration and human and drug trafficking.
“There is no doubt the Minutemen highlighted the dire need for more agents to patrol our borders. While I worked with other border-state senators to secure funding in the appropriations process for 1,500 new Border Patrol agents, we need more,” Sen. Hutchison said. “Trained, licensed peace officers could be a valuable and accountable asset to supplement our Border Patrol.”
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