The Federal Immigration Cooperation Act, or Senate Bill 1, would disallow any city, county, or state entity from becoming a sanctuary site for illegal immigrants, by requiring public employees to use, "their best efforts," to support enforcement of immigration laws.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Danny Carroll of Paducah, who is a retired Paducah Police officer.
At a press conference about the bill on Thursday, Carroll said there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the bill, but it really doesn't change any laws. It simply puts agency cooperation policies, which are already in place, in writing, so that crime investigations have the best chance for success.
Carroll said, "This bill is not a statement on immigration by any means. This is a statement on law enforcement and what the law will be within this Commonwealth when it comes to law enforcement's ability to cooperate. It is a public safety issue."
Carroll said the bill does not create a requirement for pro-active measures by any civilian who works for a public agency.
He said, "It simply protects the status quo as the operations are today, in relation to cooperation with law enforcement, whether that be federal, state, or local."
As some U.S. cities move toward creating sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, Carroll described the bill as a preemptive statute that would specifically say what the state expects when investigations are taking place.
ACLU-KY Advocacy Director Kate Miller disagreed on Facebook, saying, "The bill requires law enforcement to blindly carry out requests by federal immigration authorities, turning local control on its head and leaving counties responsible for any constitutional violations.”
She said the bill would use state agency employees as immigration agents, without any training, and would put more Kentuckians at risk of separation by deportation.
Representative John Blanton of Salyersville, a retired Kentucky State Trooper, has filed a companion piece of legislation in the House.
Blanton said, "If you don't have a problem with the way things are being done in Kentucky today, then if this bill passes today, nothing changes tomorrow. This is a good piece of legislation. This is not a discriminatory piece of legislation. This is a piece of legislation that protects our law enforcement to do their job, and provides protection to our citizens in this commonwealth."
The next step in the legislative process will be for senate bill 1 to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Carroll told West Kentucky Star he may make a couple of small language changes, but he thinks the bill will be heard in the coming week.
On the Net:
SB 1 at Legislature.ky.gov
