Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, announced that he is cosponsoring the House version of U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s Empowering Law Enforcement Act.
“I’m cosponsoring the Empowering Law Enforcement Act, the House companion to Senator Tommy Tuberville’s recently introduced bill,” Brooks said. “It would provide states and local law enforcement more power to investigate illegal aliens, extend detentions for criminal aliens in state custody, reimburse state and local law enforcement for costs relating to the incarceration of illegal aliens, and increase training for state and local law enforcement in carrying out America’s immigration laws. Thanks for leading on this, Coach!”
In May, Tuberville was joined by Sens. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, and Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, introduced the Empowering Law Enforcement Act, legislation to combat the Biden administration’s nullification of U.S. immigration laws.
The Empowering Law Enforcement Act will grant state and local law enforcement inherent immigration enforcement authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain or transfer a migrant that has entered the U.S. illegally.
Additionally, this legislation would provide the Department of Homeland Security secretary flexibility on how long a criminal alien may be detained, extending the 180-day period to ensure violent criminals are not released back into communities.
“If the Biden Administration is insistent on taking away ICE’s ability to enforce our immigration laws, then we should make sure our state and local law enforcement has the authority to respond to the influx of illegal migrants in our communities,” Tuberville said. “The Empowering Law Enforcement Act takes a twofold approach to addressing the intentional enforcement gap created by President Biden’s open border policies: first, by giving state and local officers the ability to enforce immigration laws when federal offices are prohibited from doing so, and second, by extending the detention period for dangerous criminal aliens while their removals are processed. The Biden Administration has failed our law enforcement at the expense of American communities, and this bill will remedy that moving forward.”
Tuberville’s office said that the legislation would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to:
- Delegate immigration enforcement authority to state and local law enforcement entities, including the ability to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer an alien into Federal custody.
- Permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend the detention of criminal aliens until removal from the U.S.
- Ensure that illegal migrants are detained in federal custody upon state or local law enforcement request.
- Reimburse state or local authorities for related incarceration and transportation costs.
- Promote immigration information sharing between DHS and the FBI for the benefit of state and local law enforcement.
“If Joe Biden truly wanted to eliminate COVID-19, he would stop the tsunamis of illegal aliens pouring into America through our southern border,” Brooks said. “Instead, Biden and his open-borders comrades hung a welcome sign. As a result, the pandemic drags on and Americans continue to suffer. Close the border NOW!”
Brooks is in his sixth term representing Alabama’s 5th Congressional District,
Brooks is a candidate to join Tuberville in the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Richard Shelby is retiring. Former Business Council of Alabama President and CEO Katie Boyd Britt, businesswoman Jessica Fair Taylor, and former Ambassador to Slovenia Lynda Blanchard are also running in the Republican primary on May 24, 2022. The former Mayor of Brighton Brandaun Dean is running for Senate as a Democrat.
