OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma State Senate passed legislation Wednesday that requires Oklahoma law enforcement officials to comply with federal immigration officials.
House Bill 2774, written by Rep. John Pfeiffer, R-Orlando, and Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, was created to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with locating detained illegal immigrants.
“This bill gives our law enforcement clear direction on how to handle illegal immigrants in their custody, and especially when dealing with federal immigration agencies,” Bullard said. “With all the problems at our southern border, the number of illegal immigrants in our state is increasing daily, so it’s imperative that our police, sheriffs and other peace officers have clear direction to allow ICE to complete their work and intercept illegals in our prison system. Not only will this ensure that these criminals are held accountable by the immigration agencies, but it will help decrease our overcrowded prison population.”
The bill states that all sheriffs, jailers, prison keepers and their deputies must provide ICE officials reasonable access to their detention facilities to identify inmates, according to a State Senate news release.
“The local agency must inform those being detained under such federal requests. The bill does not apply to detainees with proof of U.S. citizenship,” the news release states.
The bill now heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt.
