Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger's Island, casts a vote in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger's Island, casts a vote in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama House of Representatives passed two immigration-related bills Thursday.
HB 3, sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, enhances penalties for people without legal status when they are charged with a felony where the victim is a minor. It passed 76-3, with 24 abstentions.
Brown said the legislation was inspired by the Laken Riley case in Georgia where a college student was murdered by a person without legal status.
“ICE had asked the local jurisdiction to detain the individual, and they didn’t. They released him back on the street,” he said on the House floor Thursday.
Studies have repeatedly found that immigrants without legal status commit significantly less crime than the U.S. population as a whole.
The legislation received pushback from Democrats. Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Mobile, said people should not be convicted differently depending on who they are.
“I believe crimes are crimes,” Bracy said. “I don’t believe that based on who you are, you should be punished for a crime.”
Under the legislation, if a person without legal status is charged with a Class C felony, the penalty would be enhanced to a Class B felony. If a person without legal status is charged with a Class B felony, the penalty would be enhanced to a Class A felony. The legislation also requires all crimes committed by a person without legal status where the victim is a minor to be charged with a Class C felony.
The bill goes to the Senate.
HB 302, sponsored by Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, requires companies that hire people without legal status to register their employees with the Department of Workforce. It passed 81-0, with 19 abstentions.
Under existing law, labor brokers in Alabama can recruit citizens of other countries to work in the state through a sponsorship, which can include housing. HB 302 would require labor brokers to register with the Department of Workforce if they recruit five or more people.
“It will be an attempt to cut out human trafficking,” Robbins said.
There was no discussion on the bill. It now goes to the Senate.
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