BATON ROUGE — Two bills aimed at expanding the state’s role in immigration enforcement and further assisting the federal government’s enforcement efforts on immigration are one step closer to becoming law.
Senate Bill 100 would require state agencies to track and report the services received by undocumented immigrants to determine the amount of tax dollars spent on them. These agencies include the Louisiana Department of Education, the Department of Corrections, Children and Family Services, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, among others.
Agencies would then need to report how many undocumented immigrants they serve and the cost of these services. That report would be sent to the governor, the attorney general, and the legislature and published online.
Senate Bill 15 would make it a crime for law enforcement agents, private individuals, and public officials to obstruct federal immigration enforcement or civil immigration proceedings.
Both bills come amid waves of protests over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, as well as other cities around the country.
In May, Gov. Landry signed an executive order dubbed “Operation Geaux,” which authorized state and local enforcement officers to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE’s direction and oversight through the 287(g) program.
Senate Bill 100
The bill was passed in the House on June 9th and passed in the Senate with amendments on June 10th. It was signed by Senate President Cameron Henry June 11.
It follows a 2024 executive order from Gov. Landry in which he instructed state departments and their sub-agencies to calculate and track the amount of money used on undocumented immigrants to determine how much the state is spending on them.
During debate on the House floor over the bill, Rep. Michael T. Johnson said the bill was simply about data collection.
“We want to know how much taxpayers are spending to provide services for illegal immigrants in Louisiana. This is just to recover that information. Currently, we don’t have the means by which to do that, and it’s in line with the Governor’s executive order issued months ago,” Johnson explained.
Critics of the bill argue it will deter undocumented immigrants from seeking essential or life-saving services such as medical care.
“Are you concerned with any unintended consequences that this may bring where individuals, whether they are legal or illegal, will now be concerned with seeking health care for their children because we know there’s no real determination of what creates probable cause to determine whether or not somebody is here legally or illegally when you’re seeking medical attention, especially for a child,” Rep. Terry Landry asked.
Johnson said that wasn’t the intent of the bill and stressed that the bill’s purpose was simply to collect information as per the Gov. Landry’s executive order.
Rep. Matthew Willard expressed concerns about the proposed penalities in the bill for state agencies that don’t comply, including withholding funding from those agencies.
Other penalties include six months in jail and a $1,000 fine to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for individuals. Under the proposed law, more serious violations for public officials include felony chares and prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Johnson said that language was there to incentivice agencies to follow the law.
“You call it an incentive. For me, it seems kind of like a threat,” Willard said.
The law would take effect Aug. 1 if signed by Gov. Landry.
Senate Bill 15
The bill was passed in the House on June 9th and passed in the Senate with amendments the following day. It was sent to Gov. Landry’s desk on June 11 for signing.
If signed by the governor, Louisiana will become the first state to criminalize interfering with immigration enforcement efforts. Under current law, those issues are handled in civil courts.
“It’s critical that when we have people, particular those that are incarcerated, that there not be cooperation with such criminal migrants to assist them in escaping away from ICE, which might have a deportation order or some other immigration process that those individuals need to go through,” bill author Sen. Jay Morris said.
Tia Fields, policy manager for the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, testified against the bill during committee hearings, saying it could affect health officials or statewide advocates simply trying to do their jobs.
“Some of the language (in the bill) is going to directly impact health care providers, educators, civil rights attorneys, and people like myself, who are advocates in the community that provide things like ‘know your rights’ training,” Fields said. “Beyond the public officers, the expanded definition of obstruction of justice now threatens private citizens, creating a chilling effect and potentially criminalizing ordinary acts of assistance or advice, even in civil immigration proceedings.”
The law would take effect Aug. 1 if signed by Gov. Landry.
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