TX Rep Introduces Bill To Allow Police To Leave Undocumented Immigrants At Lawmakers’ Doorsteps
Over the past few months, over a dozen immigration bills have been filed in the Texas legislature by lawmakers who are intent on getting tough on immigration. Most of the pieces of legislation are essentially carbon copies of bills that have been proposed in other state legislatures — namely Arizona’s. However, state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R) has introduced a bill that, to its credit, is certainly original. Kolkhorst’s legislation would allow local law enforcement officials to drop off undocumented immigrants at the doorstep of any U.S. senator or representative. The bill reads:
A law enforcement agency that has custody of an illegal immigrant to whom this article applies may:
(1) release or discharge the illegal immigrant at the office of a United States senator or United States representative during that office ’s normal business hours; and
(2) request an agent or employee of the United States senator or United States representative to sign a document acknowledging the release or discharge of the illegal immigrant at the senator ’s or representative ’s office.
The proposed bill only applies to undocumented immigrants who are about to be released on bail or discharged after completing a sentence. Meanwhile, it doesn’t provide any guidance on what a lawmaker should do with them. “I want us to take these illegal immigrants in custody to a congressman’s office and say, ‘ We don’t know what to do with these people. Do you?,” Kolkhorst told reporters.