JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – As President-elect Donald Trump puts together his administration, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him make good on his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.
Lawmakers in a growing number of states are proposing to give local law officials the power to arrest people who have entered the country illegally, following recent laws in Texas and elsewhere that have been put on hold while courts review whether they acted unconstitutionally usurp federal authority.
Other legislation filed ahead of next year’s legislative sessions would require local law enforcement agencies to notify federal immigration officials when they take into custody someone who is in the country illegally, even if the charges have nothing to do with their immigration status. Although not specifically requested by Trump, many of the state’s proposals would complement his immigration policies.
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“We would track down people who violate this law, and we would hand deliver them to the nearest deportation port so they can be removed in a safe and orderly manner,” said Sen. Curtis, R-Missouri. Trent, who is sponsoring one of the proposals.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that there were 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. in 2022, according to the latest available statistics. During his campaign, Trump spoke of setting up “the largest mass deportation program in history” and called for the use of the National Guard and domestic police.
Some Democratic-led states are already sparking resistance. The California Legislature has called a special session to try to protect people from potential Trump policies, including by increasing legal aid for immigrants facing deportation.
Lawmakers in many states will likely try to thwart or cooperate with Trump’s immigration agenda, Tim Storey, CEO of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Monday.
In Missouri, Trent’s bill would give local law enforcement the authority to arrest people for a new state crime of “improper entry by an alien,” punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and a court-ordered trip to the U.S. border.
A separate bill from Missouri state Sen.-elect David Gregory would offer a $1,000 reward to informants who tip off police about people in the country illegally and allow private bounty hunters to find and detain them.
Missouri’s Republican governor-elect, Mike Kehoe, has not endorsed a specific legislative plan after campaigning against illegal immigration and the scourge of fentanyl being smuggled across the U.S. border. But he told The Associated Press: “If they are here illegally, it should definitely cause more of a stir than it does now.”
Immigrant advocacy groups are already raising the alarm about some state proposals. Missouri’s proposed bounty system would “create absolute chaos and division,” said Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, which advocates for U.S. citizens married to foreign nationals.
While many Americans support a path to citizenship for people living in the U.S. illegally, support for deportation has also grown. According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters during this year’s elections, more than four in 10 voters said most immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported to their countries of origin. That’s up from about 3 in 10 in 2020. More than half of voters said most immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be given a chance to apply for legal status, compared to about 7 in the 10 who said this in 2020, according to AP VoteCast.
Many Republicans point to Texas as a model for immigration enforcement. The $11 billion Operation Lone Star program has erected razor wire and other barriers along the Mexican border, stationed state troopers and members of the Texas National Guard in border cities and bused thousands of migrants to Democratic-run “sanctuary cities” such as New York, Chicago , Denver, Philadelphia and Washington. Texas police officers have also made tens of thousands of arrests, including many for trespassing on private property.
Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” visited Texas last month and said its border security tactics could be a model for the Trump administration. Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office confirmed it has been in regular contact with Trump’s team on strategies.
Following Texas, Republican-led legislatures in Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma have passed measures allowing law enforcement to arrest people who are in the U.S. illegally. Shortly after Trump’s election, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced he was working on a plan to deport some of the more than 500 immigrants currently in Oklahoma prisons who are not legal citizens.
Arizona voters also approved a ballot measure last month that would allow local police to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering Mexico, although that won’t take effect until a similar law in Texas or another state has passed 60 consecutive days of is strength.
Other Republican state measures aim to boost cooperation between local law officials and federal immigration officials.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox recently announced an initiative to improve coordination with federal officials to identify undocumented immigrants in the state’s criminal justice system and transfer them for deportation. Cox said there will be “zero tolerance” for “those who demonstrate a threat to public safety while in the country illegally.”
A Georgia law enacted earlier this year requires prison guards to check the immigration status of inmates and apply to help enforce federal immigration laws. The measure gained traction following the murder of University of Georgia student Laken Riley. A Venezuelan man who entered the US illegally was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.
North Carolina’s Republican-controlled Legislature last month overrode a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to enact a law directing sheriffs to comply with federal immigration agents’ requests to hold detainees. That came after several Democratic sheriffs from urban counties refused to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Other Democratic governors facing Republican-led lawmakers are pushing back against the possibility of sweeping deportation plans. Kansas’ Democratic Governor Laura Kelly said she supports deporting people who commit crimes while living in the U.S. illegally, but that she will not send in the National Guard to help enforce federal immigration laws.
Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers, who also faces a Republican-led Legislature, said undocumented immigrants are “a very important part of our economy” in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.
“Trying to get them out of the country is irrational,” Evers said. “So we will do everything we can to prevent that.”
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Associated Press polling editor Amelia Thomson-Deveaux in Washington and writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wis.; Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Hannah Schoenbaum of Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
