HELENA — Immigration enforcement continues to be a hotly debated topic for politicians, on the national level and in the Treasure State. On Tuesday, the Montana House debated a pair of bills aimed at changing how law enforcement and prosecutors address immigration status when making stops and pursuing cases.
House Bill 214, sponsored by Rep. Caleb Hinkle, R- Belgrade, would codify Montana prosecutors' ability to pursue charges against people who could be subject to federal detention due to their immigration status.
“While the state can do this, and it has happened in the past, we lack any state code on the subject of illegal aliens committing crimes within our borders,” explained Hickle. “The bill at its heart is just getting at two-tiered justice and potentially releasing somebody who is committing a state crime and who is here illegally back into our communities.”
HB 214 also requires prosecutors to notify the Montana Attorney General if they choose not to prosecute a person who could be subject to federal immigration violations. The Attorney General would then make the final call on whether the prosecution could be dropped.
Opponents of HB 214 said it was unnecessary.
“Just because someone is not a citizen of the state of Montana, they’re a traveler through whatever. Anybody that commits a crime in the state of Montana can be prosecuted. This is already being done,” said Rep. Denise Baum, D-Billings, who is also a detective with Billings Police.
HB 214 passed second reading in the Montana House of Representatives 58 to 42 on a party-line vote.
Also up for second reading on Tuesday was House Bill 278, sponsored by Rep. Nelly Nicol, R-Billings, which would allow local and state law enforcement to check every person's immigration status during a lawful stop.
An original version of the bill required law to check immigration status, but an amendment to the bill put checking and reporting immigration status at the discretion of law enforcement.
“Due to a court case 10 years ago. For one bad actor, our peace officers were limited or severely stifled on their ability to check immigration status,” said Nicol.
Nicol is referencing the case of Rios-Diaz v. Montana Highway Patrol which alleged the department had discriminatory practices against Latino drivers. The case stems from a 2011 incident where Jose Rios-Diaz, a U.S. Citizen with a valid driver's license, was pulled over for speeding by a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper. Rios-Diaz was held for over a half hour because the trooper did not believe he was in the country legally. MHP settled with the plaintiffs of the case, agreeing not to stop or prolong detention for purposes of verifying immigration status, even if requested to do so by CBP or ICE.
“This bill was specifically suggested from Highway Patrol officers that I was in contact with during the interim, just learning about what they did. I was asking a lot of questions about human trafficking,” said Nicol. “...So this is fixing a problem with one of the branches of peace officers and it is on the highway the most where people are trafficked through.”
Opponents of HB 278 said immigration ultimately falls under federal law enforcement and getting a response from those agencies can often take hours before a response.
Rep. Shelly Fyant, D-Arlee, also brought concerns that it could lead to racial profiling during stops.
“Authorizing a peace office to check and now allowing the officer to report immigration status of a person during a lawful stop will be a cumbersome addition to their already full checklist,” said Fyant. “I believe this bill may be problematic for Indigenous people of Montana in that many times we can be mistaken for Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, Caucasians, pick one.”
HB 278 passed the second reading on a vote of 59 to 41, with one Democrat joining the full Republican caucus.
