Immigration Law Enforcement Act Exposed

The Immigration Law Enforcement Act was adopted by ALEC's Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Task Force at the Spring Task Force Summit on May 17, 2008, approved by the full ALEC Board of Directors in June, 2008. ALEC has attempted to distance itself from this piece of legislation after the launch of ALECexposed.org in 2011, but it has done nothing to get it repealed in the states where it previously pushed for it to be made into law.

CMD's Bill Summary

This is an abbreviated version of the ALEC No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act and included in Arizona's infamous SB 1070 anti-immigrant law. Like the "No Sanctuary Cities" Act, this law requires local governments to enforce federal immigration law and creates a new class of crime for being present on state soil without proof of federal immigration status. By requiring local governments to enforce immigration law the bill interferes with local law enforcement's ability to decide how best to allocate limited law enforcement resources to confront the most pressing public safety threats, and interferes with the law enforcement-community relationship. This Act also makes it a Class 3 felony to use another person's identity in order to obtain employment.

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

Requires officials, agencies and personnel of counties, cities and towns to fully comply with and, to the full extent permitted by law, support the enforcement of federal immigration laws of the United States. Additionally it declares it is unlawful for a person who is not a United States citizen to trespass onto private or public lands and establishes provisions related to identity theft.

Model Legislation

{Title, enacting clause, etc.}

Section 1. {Short Title.}

This Act may be cited as the Immigration Law Enforcement Act.

Section 2. {Cooperation and Assistance in Enforcement of Immigration Laws.}

(A) All officials, agencies and personnel of this state and counties, cities and towns of this state shall fully comply with and, to the full extent permitted by law, assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws of the United States. For every arrest made by such officials, agencies and personnel, the citizenship of the person shall be determined. If the person who is arrested is an alien, the person's immigration status shall be verified with the federal government pursuant to United States Code: Title 8 section 1373(c). If the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States and this state or a local governmental entity elects not to prosecute the person for a violation of state or local law, the person shall be transferred to the custody of the United States immigration and customs enforcement or United States customs and border protection. If an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States is acquitted of any violation of state or local law, is discharged from imprisonment or pays any fine imposed, the alien shall immediately be transferred to the custody of United States immigration and customs enforcement. If the unauthorized alien is convicted of a crime, the alien must complete the full sentence before being released to the custody of the United States immigration and customs enforcement or United States customs and border protection.

(B) Except as provided in federal law, officials, agencies or personnel of this state and counties, cities and towns of this state may not be prohibited or in anyway restricted from sending, receiving or maintaining information relating to the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual or exchanging that information with any other federal, state or local governmental entity for the following official purposes:

(1) Determination of eligibility for any federal, state or local public benefit, service or license that is restricted in whole or in part on the basis of immigration status.

(2) Verification of any claim of legal domicile if legal domicile is required by law or contract.

(3) Confirmation of the identity of any person who is detained.

(C) Any law enforcement agency in this state that adopts or implements any policy preventing or limiting its officers from inquiring into the immigration status of any person or reporting to the federal government an alien who is unlawfully present in the united states shall be ineligible for any state funding. A law enforcement agency is deemed to be in violation of this subsection if the attorney general or a county attorney determines that a violation has occurred.

Section 3. {Trespassing By Illegal Aliens; Fingerprinting; Civil Penalty; Classification.}

(A) In addition to any violation of federal law, it is unlawful for a person who is a citizen of any country other than the United States to enter into or be on any public or private land in this state if, at the time of the commission of the offense, the person is in violation of United States Code: Title 8 section 1325 (C).

(B) A peace officer shall not stop or arrest a person for a violation of this section unless the peace officer has reasonable belief that the person has committed or is committing a violation of this section.

(C) The arresting authority shall fingerprint a person who is arrested for a violation of this section. For a first offense, the arresting authority has discretion to transfer the person to the federal agency with jurisdiction or refer the person for prosecution.

(D) A violation of this section is a class 1 misdemeanor, except that a second or subsequent violation is a class 4 felony. The court shall sentence a person who is convicted of a violation of this section to imprisonment for not less than the presumptive sentence authorized by law. The person is not eligible for suspension or commutation of sentence or release on any basis until the sentence imposed is served. The sentence shall run consecutively to any other sentence imposed on the person and to any undischarged term of imprisonment of the person.

(E) In addition to any other penalty prescribed by law, the court shall order the person to pay jail costs and an additional assessment in the following amounts:

(1) At least five hundred dollars for a first violation.

(2) Twice the amount specified in paragraph 1 of this subsection if the person was previously subject to an assessment pursuant to this subsection.

(F) A court shall collect the assessments prescribed in subsection E of this section and remit the assessments to the Department of Public Safety, which shall establish a special sub-account for the monies in the account established for the gang and immigration intelligence team enforcement mission appropriation. Monies in the special sub-account are subject to legislative appropriation for distribution to counties for county jail reimbursement costs relating to illegal immigration.

(G) Notwithstanding subsection D of this section, if the person violates this section while in possession of any of the following, the violation is a class 2 felony:

(1) A dangerous drug.

(2) Precursor chemicals that are used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.

(3) A deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.

(4) Property that is used for the purpose of committing an act of terrorism.

Section 4. {Aggravated taking the identity of another person or entity; classification.}

(A) A person commits aggravated taking the identity of another person or entity if the person knowingly takes, purchases, manufactures, records, possesses or uses any personal identifying information or entity identifying information of either:

(1) Five or more other persons or entities, including real or fictitious persons or entities, without the consent of the other persons or entities, with the intent to obtain or use the other persons' or entities' identities for any unlawful purpose or to cause loss to the persons or entities whether or not the persons or entities actually suffer any economic loss.

(2) Another person or entity, including a real or fictitious person or entity, without the consent of that other person or entity, with the intent to obtain or use the other person's or entity's identity for any unlawful purpose and causes another person or entity to suffer an economic loss of three thousand dollars or more.

(3) Another person, including a real or fictitious person, with the intent to obtain employment.

(B) In an action for aggravated taking the identity of another person or entity under subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section, proof of possession out of the regular course of business of the personal identifying information or entity identifying information of five or more other persons or entities may give rise to an inference that the personal identifying information or entity identifying information of the five or more other persons or entities was possessed for an unlawful purpose.

(C) This section does not apply to a violation by a person who is under twenty-one years of age.

(D) Aggravated taking the identity of another person or entity is a class 3 felony.

Section 5. {Intent.}

The requirements and obligations of this measure shall be implemented in a manner fully consistent with federal law regulating immigration and protecting the civil rights of citizens and aliens, including compliance with the federal cases of United States v. Dire, 332 U.S. 581 (1948), United States v. Janik, 723 f.2d 537 (7th cir. 1983) and United States v. Salinas Calderon, 728 f.2d 1298 (10th cir. 1984) and compliance with United States Code: Title 8 section 1644.

Section 6. {Enactment Clause.}

Adopted by the Criminal Justice & Homeland Security Task Force at the Spring Task Force Summit, May 17, 2008.

Approved by the full ALEC Board of Directors June 2008.