Throngs of people cheered and posed for pictures outside a legislative committee room Monday afternoon after a bill that would have cut off funding to cities that enacted "sanctuary" policies to shield migrants in the country illegally failed to get the required votes to advance.
Senate Bill 411, by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, at first appeared to have advanced on a voice vote in the 20-member House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs, but upon a requested roll call, the bill fell short with only 9 of the 11 votes needed.
Under SB411, cities would not be allowed to enact policies that interfere with federal enforcement of immigration law or otherwise shield those here illegally.
Also under the bill, cities would not be allowed to prevent local law enforcement officials from asking about citizenship or immigration status nor to require federal immigration officials to obtain a warrant or demonstrate more than a probable cause before a suspect is taken into federal custody.
No city in Arkansas now is considered a sanctuary city.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that while he does not support sanctuary cities, he could not support SB411 as it is written. The governor said he had discussed his concerns with Stubblefield.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
"While generally supportive, I have requested an amendment that would include the requirement for probable cause before law enforcement can inquire about citizenship or immigration status," Hutchinson said in an email. "Without this amendment, there is too much opportunity for racial profiling."
Stubblefield told the committee that he was agreeable to Hutchinson's amendment.
"There seems to be a sentiment that because of this bill, somehow, we hate people from other countries. Nothing could be further from the truth," Stubblefield said. "We're all immigrants. You go back far enough, we're all immigrants. We want people to come to this country. We need those people. We also have a process by which people come here, legally, under our laws. And without those laws, we don't have a country."
Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, told Stubblefield she was concerned that a portion of the bill that makes the state attorney general "a fact finder" would be unconstitutional and conflict with the powers of the office.
SB411 requires that the attorney general investigate and produce an opinion when an allegation is made that a city is offering sanctuary to someone unlawfully in the country. If the city is found to be in violation, then it would be ineligible to receive state discretionary funds or grants.
"Maybe there's a better mechanism for complaints to be heard," Dalby said.
Rep. David Whitaker, D-Fayetteville, pointed out that no cities in the state have adopted "sanctuary policies."
Rep. Spencer Hawks, R-Conway, said that while he's not for sanctuary cities, SB411 is too simple to handle a subject as complex as illegal immigration.
Mireya Reith, the founding executive director of Arkansas United, an immigrant advocacy organization, told the committee that she appreciated the attention the legislators were giving to immigration issues because "we believe we have a broken system," but SB411 was not the right answer.
Reith warned the committee that lawsuits would be spawned and economic development would be slowed from the influx of racial profiling the bill would allow.
She also reminded lawmakers of their recent passage of the House Bill 1552 that would allow the state Board of Nursing to issue licenses to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy created by then-President Barack Obama in 2012.
"If this law passes, any of those same DACA individuals that you all gave the opportunity to become nurses and give them that in-state tuition, they can be profiled based on this law," Reith said. "And I will tell you this, those that have DACA, even though you afforded them these new opportunities, if they feel they are being profiled and unwelcomed in Arkansas, are not going to want to stay. And we have undone all the work and progress we have made to be able to make sure that the kids that we are educating get to stay here in this state."
A Section on 04/09/2019