[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 128 (Wednesday, October 5, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11140-S11141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON:
  S. 1823. A bill to empower States and local governments to prosecute 
illegal aliens and to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
establish a pilot Volunteer Border Marshal Program; to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to address a serious 
threat facing our Nation--illegal immigration. Despite successful 
efforts by me and other Members to increase border patrol forces, add 
new detention facilities, and improve border monitoring, the problem of 
individuals entering our country illegally continues to impact 
communities across the country. Just last year, the number of 
immigrants entering our country illegally outnumbered those entering 
through legal means. While legal immigration contributes to the 
diversity and uniqueness of our society, illegal immigration undermines 
the system and weakens the legitimate process by which people can enter 
our country. With the Census Bureau estimating that 10 to 11 million 
people reside in our country illegally, clearly our strategy in 
confronting this issue must change.
  Immigration and naturalization are constitutionally defined powers 
granted to the Federal Government. As such, many view the issue of 
immigration as strictly a Federal burden, to be addressed by Federal 
legislation, policies, and payment. While immigration policy is 
certainly initiated at the Federal level, one cannot ignore the 
inherent truth that the impact of illegal immigration is predominantly 
manifested in our State and local communities, often in the form of 
overwhelmed emergency rooms, overburdened school systems, and 
overcrowded prisons. Our local communities often find themselves with 
little recourse or ability to address the pervasive and crippling 
effects of a broken immigration system. These effects, of course, are 
not confined to our southern border regions,

[[Page S11141]]

but rather they reverberate across the country.
  The country's immigration system is long overdue for a comprehensive 
overhaul, and I commend the efforts being made by a number of my 
colleagues to generate attention to the need for comprehensive 
immigration reform. Ideas are being proposed to improve avenues for 
legal immigration, enhance enforcement capabilities, and address the 
growing presence of illegal immigrants with nationalities other than 
Mexican. While I applaud these proposals and eagerly await our 
opportunity to discuss them, I believe it is essential that we 
recognize the role our State and local communities can have in 
addressing illegal immigration, particularly when it comes to the area 
of enforcement. As such, I am introducing legislation today to solidify 
the right and opportunity of our State and local governments to enforce 
the law--immigration law.
  Historically, the authority for State and local law enforcement 
officials to enforce immigration law has been limited to the criminal 
provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act; these include acts 
such as physically crossing the border illegally. By contrast, the 
enforcement of the act's civil provisions, which include apprehension 
and removal of deportable aliens already in the country, has been 
strictly a Federal responsibility, with States playing an incidental 
supporting role. This view was recently reinforced when a community in 
New Hampshire attempted to prosecute illegal immigrants for criminal 
trespass but was thwarted when a judge ruled it was constitutionally 
impermissible, stating that Congress has exclusive jurisdiction on 
civil immigration issues.

  Enforcing the laws of our country should not be confined to Federal 
authorities when the illegal behavior specifically impacts the State 
and local communities. Just as State and local officials can arrest, 
detain, and prosecute for illicit drug violations, so they should be 
able to for illegal immigration violations. The legislation I propose 
today would enable State and local officials to arrest, detain, and 
prosecute illegal immigrants for all Federal immigration violations, 
both civil and criminal, and would authorize States to create 
immigration enforcement provisions in accordance with Federal 
immigration law. My proposal preserves the Federal Government's 
constitutionally delegated authority to determine immigration status, a 
determination to which the States would defer. Allowing communities to 
take enforcement actions based on their own needs, while working within 
limits set under Federal law, is sound, appropriate policy.
  Further, in order to strengthen border security and reduce the strain 
on local and Federal border officials, my bill allows the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to create a Volunteer Border Marshal Program The 
program will assist the Department in securing our borders by using 
trained, State-licensed peace officers in a volunteer capacity. These 
volunteers would be assigned to the Border Patrol on temporary missions 
to identify and control illegal immigration, as well as human and drug 
trafficking.
  In order to properly tackle the problem of illegal immigration, 
Federal, State, and local authorities must work as partners. Our 
communities must have the tools necessary to fight it effectively. My 
legislation will empower States and communities with a new weapon to 
combat illegal immigration and thereby reinforce our legal 
naturalization process. I encourage my colleagues to support this 
sensible approach to addressing this serious problem. I ask unanimous 
consent that the text of my bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1823

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Illegal Immigration 
     Enforcement and Empowerment Act''.

     SEC. 2. STATE ENFORCEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT.

       (a) In General.--A State or unit of local government may 
     investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, prosecute, 
     and impose criminal or civil penalties upon any individual 
     who violates--
       (1) a Federal immigration law; or
       (2) a State law that is based, in part, upon the violation 
     of Federal immigration law.
       (b) Limitation.--Criminal penalties imposed under 
     subsection (a) may not exceed the penalties authorized under 
     section 275(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1325(a)).
       (c) Federal Determination of Immigration Status.--No 
     penalty may be imposed upon an individual under this section 
     unless the individual has been identified by the Federal 
     Government as having violated a Federal immigration law.

     SEC. 3. VOLUNTEER BORDER MARSHAL PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     may establish a pilot Volunteer Border Marshal Program 
     (referred to in this section as the ``Program'').
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Program is to assist the 
     Department of Homeland Security in securing the borders of 
     the United States in a safe and orderly manner by using 
     volunteer, State-licensed peace officers who are already well 
     trained.
       (c) Assignments.--Upon deployment, the volunteer peace 
     officers shall be sworn in as Special United States Border 
     Marshals and shall be assigned to the Office of Border 
     Patrol, which shall be act as the lead agency of the Program.
       (d) Rotations.--The volunteer peace officers shall rotate 
     on temporary missions along the international borders of the 
     United States to assist the Office of Border Patrol in 
     identifying and controlling illegal immigration and human and 
     drug trafficking.
       (e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``peace 
     officer'' means any law enforcement agent, whether currently 
     employed or retired, who is licensed by a State authority to 
     enforce State or local penal offenses.
                                 ______