Texas Senate Approves SB 9 requiring Secured Communities and immigration status for DLs

Texas Tribune by Julia Aguilar and Andrew Weber

You wouldn't know it by the miniscule amount of debate Thursday, but the Senate approved what some lawmakers called the most significant piece of homeland security legislation filed this session, a measure civil liberty groups worry is a major encroachment on civil rights.

SB 9, by state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, a 13-page omnibus bill passed on a 27-5 vote. A small bipartisan mix of lawmakers opposed the measure: Sens. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso; Mario Gallegos, D-Houston; Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound; Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay; and Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury.

The bill would require all law enforcement agencies to adopt Secure Communities, a program administered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in which local law enforcement compares the fingerprints of those arrested to a DHS database to determine if the individual can be deported. The bill also would institute stronger penalties for a laundry list of felonies. It would codify proof-of-citizenship requirements for driver's licenses and state-issued IDs. It would establish an automatic license-plate reader pilot program for vehicles used by DPS officers, and it allows DPS to commission special unit of Texas Rangers to, among other things, conduct background checks, monitor sex offenders and assist during disasters.

Comments

[Oliver Ponce]

I am OPPOSED to the bill SB 9 and the implementation of REAL ID, an unfunded, unconstitutional federal mandate. According to Steve McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, SB 9 will "nationalize our Texas Driver's Licenses" by bringing Texas "into compliance with the REAL ID Act." McCraw says that the Department needs $63 MILLION to upgrade equipment. This will make sure that DPS is able to collect, store, and maintain biometric information, including ALL fingerprints (rather than just the thumb) and facial scans. $133 MILLION over the next two yers will also be used to create six “mega centers” to handle the influx of “business”. To mask this increase in spending, the Texas DPS is proposing a fee-based DL system. This administrative “Transportation Tax System” will fund the new equipment necessary to collect and maintain our sensative biometric information, just one of the requirements of REAL ID.

[Larry]

In a way, SB 9 might be BETTER than the house version. It requires that people booked into jail be checked through the federal database. I hope the senate approves it and then the house approves it. After all, Governor Perry promised this as an EMERGENCY bill.

[LILY]

i hope they dont approve it ... i think republicans are so rascist ... and should stop it because thanks to the immigrants the U.S.is what is been???