The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted forward a bill that would allow local law enforcement agencies to work alongside federal agencies including ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration law.
Conversation on the bill—HB13 by State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity—picked up much where it left off last week after a public hearing in which citizens voiced fears over how the bill might affect their families and neighbors, and lawmakers accused speakers of stirring the pot.
State Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, had said speakers were “moving the goalposts” when they brought up recent U.S. Supreme Court guidance from Justice Brett Kavanuagh—guidance now colloquially referred to as a “Kavanuagh Stop”—that ethnicity and English proficiency can be used as factors to establish “reasonable suspicion” that a person is in the country unlawfully.
Yarbrough’s bill, however, does not reference “reasonable suspicion” and instead says that law enforcement must have “probable cause” to arrest an individual on a suspected violation of immigration law.
State Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said that it doesn’t matter though that reasonable suspicion isn’t used in the bill itself, as it is how an officer would initiate a stop, and then probable cause would only come into play when making a decision on whether to arrest.
“Essentially, it encourages law enforcement officers when they’re on the scene to determine if somebody is here without documentation, to engage in the sort of racial profiling that history has told us has generally been deemed unconstitutional,” England said.
The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.
Indivisible Alabama has scheduled a silent vigil for tonight at 5 p.m. partly to oppose the bill. The vigil also honors Alex Pretti, the U.S. Citizen killed by Custom and Border Patrol Agents in Minneapolis last week.
