Two bills approved by the Louisiana House Judiciary Committee today could put pressure on law enforcement in Lafayette and New Orleans to cooperate with federal officials when policing undocumented immigrants.
After hours of debate and several amendments each, the committee approved House Bill 151, by Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, and HB 453, by Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe.
HB 151 prohibits laws creating “sanctuary cities,” where law enforcement officials do not cooperate with federal immigration officials in detaining immigrants who enter the country illegally, and prevents the State Bond Commission from issuing bonds to such cities.
An original draft of the bill prevented sanctuary cities from receiving any state funding, but Hodges, along with Attorney General Jeff Landry, who testified in support of the bill, decided to lessen the punishment.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, also testifying in support of the bill, said New Orleans and Lafayette are the state’s two sanctuary cities. The New Orleans Police Department, due to a clause in a 2012 agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice, does not hold detainees for federal immigration officials, and Lafayette will only do so with a court order. Kobach is a former adviser to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and has supported strong immigration enforcement laws around the country.
Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, took issue with one piece of the bill that he read as potentially allowing for racial profiling by police by allowing them to ask any person their citizenship status. He was satisfied by an amendment that, after several drafts and arguments, limited the question to those suspected of or witness to crimes.
Other critics of the bill said the “sanctuary city” label is a misnomer.
Fernando Lopez of the Congress of Day Laborers, which represents manual laborers in the greater New Orleans area, said undocumented immigrants are already racially profiled and subject to unjust policing in New Orleans and that the bill would open them to further mistreatment.
“There are no such things as sanctuary cities in Louisiana,” Lopez said.
The bill, and HB 453, a “companion bill” which allows victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants released by sanctuary city police to sue the city or parish, passed unanimously.
—Gordon Brillon
Jeremy Alford and Gordon Brillon will publish a daily update throughout the legislative regular session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
