MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers advanced legislation on Thursday that would allow local law enforcement to enforce immigration law, as conservative legislators push for increased alignment with the federal government’s crackdown on immigration.
The bill was dubbed “Laken Riley Act,” named after the 22-year-old Augusta University student who was killed last year in Georgia by an undocumented immigrant. President Donald Trump signed a similar law into affect in January that requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes.
If signed into law, the Alabama version of the bill will allow local and state law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with federal agencies to enforce the country’s immigration laws.
“It’s simply a common-sense grassroots approach to help enforce already existing laws that are on the books in our community,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Ernie Yarbrough.
The bill drew swift rebuke from the House of Representative’s Democratic minority.
Rep. Chris England said the bill would make profiling inevitable because he said officers are more likely to detain nonwhite people who don’t speak English. He added that the stakes are higher given the increasing frequency of detentions without a trial across the country.
“The constitution can’t be situational, it can’t be circumstantial, it cannot only be when it benefits me. You have to abide by the principles in it, even when you don’t want to,” he said.
Yarbrough denied that the bill would encourage racial profiling, and he pointed to amendments to the bill that would require officers to check immigration status instead of nationality when someone is arrested.
“The bottom line is that this bill isn’t aimed at vilifying immigrants – it’s about the safety of Alabamians,” Yarbrough said.
Still, some Democratic legislators pushed back. They said that it would make communities less safe because it would discourage immigrants from reporting crimes in the community.
Rep. Neil Rafferty said that the bill exploits Laken Riley’s name and wouldn’t have prevented her death. “Turning local officers into de facto immigration agents damages their ability to stop crimes,” Rafferty said.