The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation mandating that law enforcement must immediately transfer any person identified as an undocumented immigrant to federal authorities for deportation.
Senate Bill 615 was approved by a majority of committee members after about 13 minutes of discussion on Monday. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
The legislation has a national resonance because of the immigration sweeps that are taking place across the nation. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency recently said more than 600 undocumented immigrants were arrested during a two-week surge earlier this month.
The legislation is also advancing in the context of questions that have arisen in federal courtrooms in West Virginia over due process. In those cases that have come under scrutiny, some non-citizens have described cooperating with immigration officials and attending immigration proceedings on a regular basis.
The bill moving through the state Senate says that “any individual who has been determined to be in the country illegally by local, state, or federal law enforcement in this state shall be immediately turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) for purposes of deportation.”
While an initial discovery results in immediate removal, the bill establishes criminal penalties for those found in the state a second time.
Senator Joey Garcia, D-Marion, was troubled by what the word “determined” actually means in the bill.
“I don’t know what that means. I mean, to me, that sounds more like adjudicated. And that’s something that can’t necessarily be done by law enforcement; that needs to be done by a immigration court,” Garcia said.
He went on to say he trusts the State Police to avoid profiling situations, but also took note of the many U.S. citizens who have been held by immigration agents.
“My last name is Garcia. If I don’t have — which I don’t carry around, necessarily — my passport or my birth certificate, could I be pulled over and then detained? You know, it’s not like it hasn’t happened across the United States,” he said.
“To me, it’s either unclear or could push this state in a direction where maybe I have to worry a little bit more about my safety, even though I am a United States citizen.”
Senators asked Lonnie Faircloth, president of the West Virginia Troopers Association, to testify about what would typically happen as law enforcement agencies cooperate with ICE. The West Virginia State Police are among several state-level law enforcement agencies officially assisting ICE through the 287(g) program.
If troopers pull over someone suspected of having a traffic violation such as expired vehicle registration and then run the driver’s identification and have further questions about identification or status, he said, “we will contact ICE to have them come on scene, and then they are the ones who will determine if they’re here illegally or not.”
Senator Brian Helton, R-Fayette, followed up.
“So just to be clear for everyone, you would never apprehend someone simply because you somehow thought they were here illegally, correct? It would have to be as a result of some other suspicion, criminal offense, speeding, tail light out something that,” Helton said.
“No, that’s illegal,” Faircloth said. “That’s not how the State Police works.”
“That’s what I thought,” Helton said. “OK, thank you.”