Whereas the Federal Government has failed to fully carry
out current laws governing the enforcement of the immigration laws of the
United States;
Whereas the Federal Government’s lack of enforcement has
failed to curb illegal immigration, secure the borders, and protect the
homeland;
Whereas 11,000,000 to 20,000,000 aliens unlawfully present
in the United States currently reside in the United States;
Whereas 15,000,000 individuals authorized to be employed
in the United States are unemployed while an estimated 8,000,000 illegal aliens
are unlawfully employed;
Whereas Mexican drug trafficking organizations have
operations within the United States and are geographically dispersed throughout
at least 230 cities;
Whereas the number of drug trafficking-related deaths in
Mexico since January 2007 has been estimated at over 14,000;
Whereas Congress remains concerned with the possibility
that the current drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico may spill over
into the United States;
Whereas the failure by the Federal Government to curb
illegal immigration and secure the borders has placed, and continues to place,
a substantial burden on State and local government agencies to address illegal
immigration and the escalating border violence;
Whereas many State and local governments have actively
worked to discourage illegal immigration and to assist in the enforcement of
the immigration laws of the United States;
Whereas such actions and assistance have come at great
expense to State and local governments;
Whereas illegal immigration costs State and local
governments $40,000,000,000 to $80,000,000,000 every year;
Whereas illegal immigration also poses a threat to the
security of the United States;
Whereas the 9/11 Commission Report found that several of
the 19 9/11 terrorists had overstayed their tourist visas and therefore were
unlawfully present in the United States;
Whereas 3 of the hijackers had been stopped for traffic
violations when they were living illegally in the United States, including the
pilot Ziad Jarrah who was cited for speeding just 2 days before the
attacks;
Whereas if the information that those individuals had
overstayed visas had been available to local law enforcement officials, several
of the hijackers might have been detained and deported, potentially disrupting
the 9/11 plot;
Whereas 3 noncitizens, who authorities say supplied funds
to Times Square car-bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad, were arrested in the United
States and found to have overstayed their visas and to be unlawfully present in
the United States;
Whereas the State of Arizona recently enacted the Support
Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act to enhance the ability of State
and local agencies to discourage illegal immigration, protect Arizona
communities against local and international organized crime, and to ease the
burden placed on the State;
Whereas it is the intent of the Support Our Law
Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act to make attrition through enforcement
the public policy of all State and local government agencies in Arizona;
Whereas the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods Act mirrors Federal law, which already requires aliens to
register and carry their documents with them;
Whereas the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods Act simply states that violating Federal immigration law is now a
State crime as well;
Whereas the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods Act allows law enforcement officials to ask about immigration
status only in the normal course of a lawful stop, detention, or arrest, such
as in the course of a traffic stop or criminal arrest;
Whereas the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods Act prohibits a law enforcement official or agency or a county,
city, town or other political subdivision solely to consider race, color, or
national origin in implementing the requirements of the Act; and
Whereas the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods Act will help to alleviate the costs of illegal immigration on
taxpayers and will enhance national security: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that—
(1)States, and law enforcement personnel of a
State (or of a political subdivision of a State) in the course of carrying out
routine duties, have the inherent authority of a sovereign entity to
investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer to Federal
custody aliens in the United States (including the transportation of such
aliens across State lines to detention centers), for the purposes of assisting
in the enforcement of the immigration laws of the United States;
(2)State and local
governments should be supported by the Federal Government for taking actions to
discourage illegal immigration;
(3)State and local
governments should be fully reimbursed for the costs associated with illegal
immigration;
(4)State and local
governments that knowingly harbor illegal immigrants should be
penalized;
(5)current laws
governing the enforcement of the immigration laws of the United States should
be enforced to the highest extent of the law;
(6)attrition through
enforcement should be the policy of the United States; and
(7)legislation to
enhance border security and the enforcement of immigration laws should be
passed quickly in order to ease the burden on State and local governments and
increase national security.