William F. Smith: “I support H.R. 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006. It's important to Americans that local law enforcement…”

“I support H.R. 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006. It's important to Americans that local law enforcement officials are doing everything possible to arrest and prosecute criminals. And it's important that law enforcement officials know under exactly what circumstances they can lawfully arrest or detain a suspected criminal. Take for instance the situation in which a police officer has reasonable suspicion to stop an individual and finds out that individual is in the United States in violation of our immigration laws. It's contrary to common sense that the police officer would not be able to arrest that person simply because immigration is a Federal responsibility. But this is the argument of those who oppose this bill. H.R. 6095 affirms the authority of State and local law enforcement officials to investigate, apprehend, and arrest illegal immigrants. Several Federal Courts of Appeals, including the Tenth and Fifth Circuits, have agreed that State and local law enforcement officials have the authority to do so. Unfortunately, opponents of this legislation believe that if a police officer comes in contact with a suspected criminal who has violated immigration law, they should simply let the person go. This situation was addressed in the 1996 immigration legislation that I authored.…”