West Virginia Senate Bill Pushes Cooperation in Immigration Crackdown

Описание: Amid renewed national attention on immigration enforcement, West Virginia lawmakers are considering legislation aimed at ensuring the state aligns with federal immigration priorities.

Senate Bill 615 would require all West Virginia law enforcement agencies to notify and cooperate with federal immigration authorities when they determine someone is unlawfully present in the United States. The bill would also prohibit state or local policies that limit or weaken that cooperation.

Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, a supporter of the bill, described it as a preemptive measure designed to prevent local governments from enacting policies that conflict with state or federal immigration enforcement.

“It’s a bit of a preemption bill,” Tarr said. “There are sections in that bill that say any political subdivision of the state can’t put in an ordinance that would not cooperate with identifying people who are in the U.S. illegally and working with ICE.”

Tarr said cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration officials is already common in West Virginia, but not always the case elsewhere in the country.

“As we’ve seen across the country, sometimes there’s not so much cooperation with federal agents on bringing sovereignty back to the United States,” he said.

Tarr emphasized the bill is not intended to promote racial profiling, saying immigration status determinations are based on identification and legal documentation.

“They have to identify that person to know whether they’re legal, have warrants or don’t have warrants, legal immigrant or not,” Tarr said. “That has nothing to do with profiling.”

Local law enforcement officials say the proposed legislation would not significantly change their current practices.

Sgt. Jeremy Burns of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said deputies already work with other agencies, including federal immigration authorities, when necessary.

“We’re going to continue doing what we did yesterday, last month and last year,” Burns said. “If we come across someone committing a crime, we’re going to charge them as we would anybody else. If they happen to be here illegally, that’s when it gets turned over to immigration.”

Burns said local officers do not independently determine a person’s immigration status, instead relying on federal agencies to make that determination.

“When we deal with someone committing a crime and we learn they may be lying about their name or possibly not here legally, that’s when we call other law enforcement agencies, such as immigration, to assist us,” he said.

Senate Bill 615 remains under consideration by the Legislature.

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