Image Credit: Senator Marsha Blackburn
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called on the U.S. Congress to pass the “Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act” also known as the “CLEAR Act.”
This legislation would empower state and local law enforcement officials across the country to help the federal government deport illegal immigrants.
The CLEAR Act was first introduced back in 2007 and Sen. Blackburn introduced the most recent version in March of this year after University of Georgia student Laken Riley’s murder by an illegal immigrant.
“The recent murders of Laken Riley in Georgia and a two-year old in Maryland by illegal immigrants with previous criminal arrests were tragically avoidable, as was the abuse of young boys in Tennessee by an illegal immigrant with a prior record,” Sen. Blackburn said at the time.
More recently, Sen. Blackburn addressed her colleagues and Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) with her arguments in favor of the CLEAR Act during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
“We’ve all seen the uptick in violent crimes – such as Ms. Morin and her family have experienced – and this is the reason I re-introduced my CLEAR Act this year,” Sen. Black burn explained during the committee hearing, “which would enable local law enforcement when they apprehend someone who is in the country illegally to detain them and then call on ICE to deport them.”
“And then the federal government have to repay that local law enforcement agency for what they’ve spent in that apprehension, that detention, and we should pass this bill today,” she continued. “That would be a good thing for this committee to be doing this last week. Pull it up, put it on the hotline, and run it.”
The legislation intends to ensure that, “State and local law enforcement officials have the tools necessary to help the federal government deport criminal illegal immigrants from the United States.”
“This open-border policy that we’ve seen is not a compassionate policy,” Sen. Blackburn stated. “I’ve talked to people that work with human trafficking and sex trafficking, and what is happening to women and children is abhorrent, and we are all aware of that. Mr. Chairman, I appreciated your remark that we should deport those that are truly a danger to Americans. I think that’s accurate. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.”
Sen. Blackburn’s office previously issued the following details about the CLEAR Act (S. 3881) in a March 6th press release:
THE CLEAR ACT:
• Specifically, the CLEAR Act reaffirms the authority of state and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws by apprehending, detaining, or transferring illegal immigrants to federal custody.
– Any state or locality that prohibits state law enforcement from working with federal immigration law enforcement cannot receive certain federal funds.
• Under the bill, DHS must also provide the National Crime Information Center at DOJ with information about any illegal alien who (1) has a final order of removal issued against them; (2) has signed a voluntary departure agreement; (3) has overstayed their period of stay; or (4) has a revoked visa.
• States and localities must provide DHS (who in turn must submit a report to Congress) with certain information about every alien apprehended in their state, including: (1) the alien’s name; (2) the alien’s address; (3) a physical description of the alien; (4) the date, time, and location of the encounter with the alien and reason for stopping, detaining, or arresting the alien.
– If available, the state must also provide the alien’s driver’s license number, license plate number, a photo of the alien, or the alien’s fingerprints.
• DHS must also: (1) provide grants to states and localities to assist them in enforcing immigration laws; (2) construct or acquire increased space for detention facilities; (3) take illegal aliens into custody within 48 hours after receiving a request from a state or locality; (4) establish a training manual for state and local law enforcement on the enforcement of immigration laws; and (5) continue and expand the Institutional Removal Program for identifying removable criminal aliens in federal and state correctional facilities.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
