Thread: Texas Aiming for Arizona-Style Immigration Law

Texas Aiming for Arizona-Style Immigration Law | On the Record

Special Guests | Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," Nov. 9, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Is Arizona's illegal immigration law moving east to Texas? A Republican state rep in Texas just camped out at the Texas state Capitol. Why? Well, she has some ideas about illegal immigration. Texas state representative Debbie Riddle joins us live. Good evening.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DEBBIE RIDDLE R-TEXAS: Hello, Greta!

VAN SUSTEREN: Is it true that you slept in the state Capitol leading up to filing this new bill?

RIDDLE: Absolutely. I kind of set up camp there, Greta, because Monday morning at 8:00 o'clock is the first time that we'd be able to file our bills early. I wanted to be first in line so that I could get the lowest house bill number that I could possibly get. So I got there about 2:00 o'clock on Saturday and camped out until I could file my bill.

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm curious -- and I'll get to the substance of the bill, but why did you want a low number?

RIDDLE: A low number does not necessarily guarantee the fact that the bill would pass, but it kind of greases the wheels a little bit. It gets it out there first. It's like do you want to get in traffic before rush hour hits, or do you want to get in the middle of rush hour traffic? That's about it.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, your bill that you filed, it is identical to Arizona? And if so, I assume that you anticipate running into maybe the same problems Arizona's bill did.

RIDDLE: No, it really has some significant differences. First of all, it's only about a page and a half. And anybody can read it. I encourage everybody to read it. What it does, Greta, is a law enforcement officer has the discretionary tool that he can inquire as to someone's legal status if they are already being detained because of a warrantless arrest, which as you know, is fairly serious. If, in fact, he determines through ICE that that individual is not here legally, then he can arrest them for criminal trespass. And that would be a class B misdemeanor.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now, there are different types of warrantless arrests. There's warrantless arrests for murder because you -- you know, you see the person running from the scene, and you know, there's blood dripping from the knife. And there's warrantless arrests for something like, you know, stealing a ham from the grocery store. Under your statute, are they indistinguishable for when you can make that inquiry about whether the person is here illegally or not?

RIDDLE: If they are being detained because the warrantless arrest, then the officer would, in fact, have the discretion that he could inquire as to their legal status.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now, Governor Perry would have to sign this if it gets voted into -- by the -- by your -- your government -- by your legislature. Governor Perry would have sign it, and he has made statements that he thinks that immigration policy -- you know, he's very -- if I -- I mean, if I may be so bold as to try to repeat what he said to me, is that, you know, he's -- he's very adamant about protecting Texas, securing the border, but he sees it as a federal responsibility. So is he likely to sign your bill, should it end up on his desk?

RIDDLE: I think that there's a strong possibility of that, Greta, because the bottom line is this. This is all about safety and security. In Houston, my hometown, since 2004, Greta, the gang-related violence, which is connected with the Mexican drug cartels, has gone up over 250 percent. That's serious. We are looking at some serious security issues here for the citizens, and we have to address that. And this is just one of the bills that I'm introducing that, in fact, does address it.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, we have been down to the border and we've watched it, and of course, we've also followed these -- the lawsuit as sort of wound its way through Arizona. And it'll be interesting to see whether yours is seen as -- whether the federal government -- should yours get passed, whether the federal government comes in and says, This is our business, this is an immigration issue. But we will monitor it. Thank you for joining us.

RIDDLE: Thank you.

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-re ... ration-law

And I thank you!

what the hell do we Have to do to get help to close the this Border .come on get the Illegal immigrant the hell out Of this country
this is BS

Originally Posted by southBronx

what the hell do we Have to do to get help to close the this Border .come on get the Illegal immigrant the hell out Of this country
this is BS

well NYC Is just like Mexico It a Mess get them the hell out Of Our country . & they have the rest of Our country a mess & yes you all know this so do some thing ship them back home they are Not a citizen . I don't care if they live in this country for year they still are not a citizen & then she has her baby & think it a citizen no way it don't work that way in my Book

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he determines through ICE that that individual is not here legally, then he can arrest them for criminal trespass. And that would be a class B misdemeanor.

That criminal tresspass thing is pretty significant. I heard an HPD officer
say that if they arrest someone and determine that they're illegal and
charge them with criminal trespass then if for some reason ICE lets them
go, as soon as they step out of the jail house the police can charge them
with criminal trespass and arrest them again. Absolute genious.

Def

I'm missing something. Any law enforcement officer may ask about a resident's immigration status, especially during a traffic stop.

So, why is this put into another piece of legislation, it only make it controversial ? Why invite the federal govt. to sue ?

I also believe every county in TX is participating in the federal govt's Secure Communities Initiative (SCI). The SCI enables local police, usually the sheriff, to electronically submit the jailed resident's prints to ICE. This enables ICE to check on their immigration status and determine if he has any federal warrants. The ICE database has information the FBI database may not. SCI will be nation wide by 2013.

Side note: If your county is NOT participating in the SCI, your local police dept, including the sheriff, may do a basic warrant check which doesn't include a check of the ICE database. Without SCI, it's a two step process and many local police agencies merely perform a single check of the state and FBI database. SCI somehow enables the local police to seamlessly check all three databases (state, FBI & ICE) with the touch of a button. It's automagically more efficient. I know that SCI gives the sheriff this improved capability, but I'm not sure what transpires at the local police agency.

Why not pass a law that grants every police officer the ability to perform a basic warrant check, of every resident, legally stopped, when the resident lacks any form of U.S. govt identification ?

Presently, this can't be done, unless the resident is taken "down town", finger printed and booked.

Give the police, mobile finger print scanners and put them in patrol cars. Pass legislation to pay for the scanners.

With a scanner, in the patrol car, a local police office may briefly detain someone, ask for their identity and if one is lacking, scan the resident's prints and electronically send them to the state, FBI and ICE. This enables the officer to perform a basic warrant check of unidentified people, using finger prints, in the field, from a patrol car. Now the "unidentified" resident has his prints in the system.

Everybody knows the feds are balking when it comes to taking care of
the immigration issue and secure communities doesn't work if ICE is going
to let them go. Houston as well as other Texas communities (Tomball) are
known for their sanctuary policies. Debbie Riddle's bill will cut funding to
sanctuary cities and forces local politicians to enforce our
laws.

Secure communities doesn't work if the judges are just gonna let them go:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 69978.html

One of the problems with the Arizona law is the part where police can
detain someone they believe is an illegal which amounts to illegal
detention, you can't arrest someone even for a few minutes if you don't
have any charges. This bill forces police to check someone's immigration
status while they're holding them for other charges.

This bill will give local law enforcement more power to deal with illegal
immigrants. The criminal trespass part will give the police the ability to
hold someone and re-arrest them over and over if they turn out to be
illegals even if ICE or judges let them go.

Def

Originally Posted by defaoite62

he determines through ICE that that individual is not here legally, then he can arrest them for criminal trespass. And that would be a class B misdemeanor.

That criminal tresspass thing is pretty significant. I heard an HPD officer
say that if they arrest someone and determine that they're illegal and
charge them with criminal trespass then if for some reason ICE lets them
go, as soon as they step out of the jail house the police can charge them
with criminal trespass and arrest them again. Absolute genious.

Def

Thanks for this info. I'll inquiry of our Ohio State Patrol, regarding their policy. I doubt it's this severe.

Here's a website where you can read the bills.

http://www.texastribune.org/library/dat ... 4952941373

Def

Originally Posted by defaoite62

Everybody knows the feds are balking when it comes to taking care of
the immigration issue and secure communities doesn't work if ICE is going
to let them go. Houston as well as other Texas communities (Tomball) are
known for their sanctuary policies. Debbie Riddle's bill will cut funding to
sanctuary cities and forces local politicians to enforce our
laws.

Secure communities doesn't work if the judges are just gonna let them go:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 69978.html

One of the problems with the Arizona law is the part where police can
detain someone they believe is an illegal which amounts to illegal
detention, you can't arrest someone even for a few minutes if you don't
have any charges. This bill forces police to check some one's immigration
status while they're holding them for other charges.

This bill will give local law enforcement more power to deal with illegal
immigrants. The criminal trespass part will give the police the ability to
hold someone and re-arrest them over and over if they turn out to be
illegals even if ICE or judges let them go.

Def

I look at things a little differently. No one has a magic wand to immediately solve the illegal problem. I support Secure Communities and believe it is working. It's not a total solution, but it's an improvement.

Secure Communities is only partially implemented. Some border states have it in every county, Ohio has it in six counties and Wisconsin in none.
By 2013, it will be in every county.

Secure Communities is eliminating "sanctuary" type protection for illegal aliens that are put in a county jail. Everyone in a Secure Communities county jail is reported to ICE. This is an improvement over the present situation.

The federal govt. has not yet any county of city "opt out". Two cities in CA want to opt out, as well as Arlington Co., VA. The feds said, MO. Only Wash. D.C. has been able to opt out. It's a unique form of govt.

So, when we get it fully operational, everyone jailed at the county level will be reported to ICE. This is a vast improvement. I admit, every illegal will not be deported, but hopefully every serious criminal will.

Presently, the serious ones and some not so serious are being deported.
The "other side" is out raged that non-serious offenders are being deported.

As for AZ ~ You are correct, you can't detain someone with out charges. I believe you can briefly detain and unidentified resident for driving w/o a license. SB1070 isn't required. Nothing prevents any peace officer from inquiring about one's immigration status and reporting this same person to ICE, unless the peace officer works in a sanctuary city.

However, if the jailed individual, from a sanctuary city is placed in the county jail, he's reported to ICE. The feds have told two sanctuary cities and Arlington Co., VA, that Secure Communities trumps any sanctuary policy of the local community.

Although, the motor vehicle law was recently changed in OH. A local police office said he no longer can put an unlicensed driver in jail. All he can do is write a ticket. I'm presently researching this change.

I'm not too worried if ICE doesn't deport every illegal or a judge tosses a few "old" cases. I want ICE to deport all the serious offenders and increase the number deportations, every year. Continuous improvement of technology and methods will make a greater and greater impact.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but every county in TX is participating in Secure Communities. So, every inmate of the county jail is now reported to ICE. I thonk this is progress fro TX.

Make sure you sheriff is running a good program. ( I believe they are).
Tell your county commissioners you support this and ask them to confirm they support it.

If you city has electronic finger prints and a jail, it may also participate.
Contact your mayor, city council and police chief. Tell them you want this same level of protection at the city jail. Explain how it will improve safety and security. Tell your confidence in the PDs work will improve.