By Nolan Hicks, Thursday, March 3, 2011
AUSTIN — The Department of Public Safety would be given the power to establish driver's license and insurance checkpoints along state roads as part of a broader border security bill introduced Thursday.
The checkpoint provision is part of a bill that supporters say would crack down on drug cartels and human smuggling rings operating in Texas.
It would require that every person booked into prison in Texas have their citizenship checked. It also would increase criminal penalties for gang and cartel members and increase fines for drug crimes.
“We want to have a package that's focused on solving our unique situation here in Texas,” said state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, who chairs the Senate committee on transportation and homeland security.
DPS officials have asked for the power to do checkpoints, claiming it's necessary to help disrupt the operations of drug cartels and human smugglers; however, legislation has failed because it usually was enveloped by political controversy.
“This bill has several provisions that appear to require state and local law officers to enforce federal immigration laws, which invites discrimination against citizens of Hispanic descent and legal immigrants,” said state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.
Williams defended the proposal and said it would help reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road and would give officers an additional chance at stopping illegal activity.
“There are actually local jurisdictions that do this,” Williams said.
He said agencies would still have to have probable cause to search vehicles and that current policy had “unnecessarily restrained the Department of Public Safety.”
Other Democrats voiced concern that the bill might become a vehicle for legislation from conservative House Republicans that would provide for an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigrants.
“What concerns me is that any omnibus bill can become a vehicle for other things which I would not support,” said Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville. “I would hate to see his bill amended to include Arizona-style legislation.”
The bill includes new requirements that would mandate that local law enforcement organizations check the citizenship status of everyone booked into prison. It also would require that state prisons officials keep a count of the number of illegal immigrants in state prisons.
“It's an expensive proposition — we think it could be as high as $200 million,” Williams said of the cost to house illegal immigrants in state prisons. “Because there's not a census being taken, it's very difficult to know how good that number is.”
AUSTIN — The Department of Public Safety would be given the power to establish driver's license and insurance checkpoints along state roads as part of a broader border security bill introduced Thursday.
The checkpoint provision is part of a bill that supporters say would crack down on drug cartels and human smuggling rings operating in Texas.
It would require that every person booked into prison in Texas have their citizenship checked. It also would increase criminal penalties for gang and cartel members and increase fines for drug crimes.
“We want to have a package that's focused on solving our unique situation here in Texas,” said state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, who chairs the Senate committee on transportation and homeland security.
DPS officials have asked for the power to do checkpoints, claiming it's necessary to help disrupt the operations of drug cartels and human smugglers; however, legislation has failed because it usually was enveloped by political controversy.
“This bill has several provisions that appear to require state and local law officers to enforce federal immigration laws, which invites discrimination against citizens of Hispanic descent and legal immigrants,” said state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.
Williams defended the proposal and said it would help reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road and would give officers an additional chance at stopping illegal activity.
“There are actually local jurisdictions that do this,” Williams said.
He said agencies would still have to have probable cause to search vehicles and that current policy had “unnecessarily restrained the Department of Public Safety.”
Other Democrats voiced concern that the bill might become a vehicle for legislation from conservative House Republicans that would provide for an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigrants.
“What concerns me is that any omnibus bill can become a vehicle for other things which I would not support,” said Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville. “I would hate to see his bill amended to include Arizona-style legislation.”
The bill includes new requirements that would mandate that local law enforcement organizations check the citizenship status of everyone booked into prison. It also would require that state prisons officials keep a count of the number of illegal immigrants in state prisons.
“It's an expensive proposition — we think it could be as high as $200 million,” Williams said of the cost to house illegal immigrants in state prisons. “Because there's not a census being taken, it's very difficult to know how good that number is.”
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