Ramey Moves Crucial Immigration Bill to House Floor

     After being stalled in committee, Ramey passed House Bill 5756 out of the Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee by a vote of 6-5. The bill allows officials to check any person entering or leaving the Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice. If a person is suspected of having an illegal immigration status, state officials must notify the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

     “The whole premise of this measure is to increase the communication and coordination between state correctional facilities and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Ramey said. “We want to ensure that immigration officials are aware of the discharge of undocumented individuals from any Illinois State Correctional facility.”

     Ramey warned that the bill does not give authority for officials from ICE to deport anyone: It only creates a master file of individuals’ immigration status for state corrections facilities. Additional paper trails of records on convicted criminals will increase the safety of all residents in Illinois and ensure there is compliance with the Department of Homeland Security, Ramey said.

     “This starts the identification process with people entering and leaving state correctional facilities,” Ramey said. “It is important we are documenting all individuals—whether they are legal or illegal in status—so that we can further ensure safety in our communities. It will allow the Department of Corrections to gather information that might be needed if hardened criminals with an illegal status should be deported.”

     The bill now moves to the House floor for further consideration.