After hearing that posters and signs were not allowed in the committee room, Kansas City resident Katelin Nott wrote messages on her arm Monday (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).
A confrontational legislative hearing Monday — with a witness calling a state senator a fascist and lawmakers battling over whether the state should put a bounty on undocumented immigrants — set the tone for this year’s debate on immigration and the state’s role in border security.
The most aggressive approach, in a bill filed by state Sen. David Gregory, would award a $1,000 bounty for tips that result in the arrest of a person present in the United States without authorization. Gregory, a Republican from Chesterfield, wants to authorize bounty hunters, usually employed by bail bond businesses to catch absconders, to track down people identified in tips.
And if the tip proves accurate, the person arrested would be charged with “trespass by an illegal alien,” and subject to life in prison without parole if federal immigration authorities declined to take custody.
“This bill seeks to create an ICE program at the state level,” Gregory told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee. “That’s essentially all it does. This is an ICE program inside the state of Missouri.”
State Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat, said it encourages people to make reports based on skin color or English proficiency.
“Don’t tell me it is not going to happen because it is happening now,” Washington said.
Gregory’s bill — and another heard Monday from state Sen. Jill Carter, a Joplin Republican — are among several introduced by Republicans this session seeking to make it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to remain in the state.
Carter’s bill would also create new crimes based on immigration status. For simply being undocumented, a person could be charged with “improper entry” and could be punished by a fine of up to $10,000 and removal to a U.S. port of entry for deportation.
The crime of “aggravated illegal presence” would be a felony applying to undocumented people who violated any other Missouri law. The penalty would be increased if the violation was a felony law.
Immigration and border security have been a major issue for the GOP nationally, helping get President Donald Trump elected to a new term. Trump promised mass deportations, and roundups began almost immediately after he took office.
There were 956 arrests on Sunday, the BBC reported. Colombia, which initially refused to accept incoming flights of people being deported, relented after Trump threatened to impose a tariff of 25% on all imports from the South American country.
Federal courts have blocked attempts in Iowa, Texas and Georgia to make it a crime to be in those states if a person is in the U.S. illegally.
During Monday’s hearing, immigrants — with legal status and without — said the bills filed this year represent an escalation of oppression.
“It is inhumane to say people should be hunted like a sport,” said Aura Velasquez, who has been a citizen for five years. “It would turn neighbors against neighbors and friends against each other.”
Immigration advocates argued that a community already fearful about having documentation to remain in the U.S. revoked would become more fearful.
“This bill fosters a climate of fear, where people feel unsafe engaging in even the most basic activities beyond going to work or school,” said Gabriella Cepeda, representing the Hispanic Law Students Association at St. Louis University. “They are terrified of being profiled or targeted life in prison for simply existing in the state without documentation. It is not just extreme, it’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
The handful of supporters, representing law enforcement and a conservative Jewish group, said the state must protect itself from human trafficking and drug trafficking associated with lax border security.
“This legislation would simply give law enforcement another tool in the tool box to assist our federal partners,” Lewis County Sheriff David Parish said.
Last summer, a Missouri House interim committee studied the issue of crime associated with illegal immigration. The report, published Jan. 7, drew no conclusions and reported that many of the witnesses said they feared problems associated with border communities reaching Missouri.
The report did not estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in Missouri but said studies show a substantial economic impact.
Undocumented immigrants paid approximately $113 million in state taxes in 2022 but cannot use the public benefits those taxes support like Medicaid. Their economic activity supports 160,000 jobs and $19 billion in total economic activity, providing “real economic stability that benefits all Missourians,” the committee report stated.
Washington peppered Gregory and Carter with questions about whether the state should trade that economic support for a state free of undocumented immigrants.
“We have 77,000 illegal immigrants that we have here in Missouri,” Gregory said.
“So they should all be subject to this, because you’re saying that we should arrest them just because they’re here?” Washington asked.
“Yes,” Gregory replied.