Bill eyes action against illegals

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A Tennessee congresswoman yesterday introduced legislation giving state and local law-enforcement officers the authority to enforce federal immigration law and investigate, apprehend, detain, transport and remove illegal aliens from the U.S. — including 85,000 criminal aliens.

In the wake of the defeat of President Bush's immigration reform bill, which granted amnesty to 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S., Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn said the Charlie Norwood Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act, or the CLEAR Act, has the support of more than 200 members of the House — including 74 Democrats.

"One of the things the defeat of the immigration reform bill showed was that the people are falling back to the position of incrementally bringing security to the border," Mrs. Blackburn told The Washington Times. "That means establishing border security first before taking on other challenges.

"The people are saying we have to get this thing solved and that means being able to target employers who hire illegal aliens, make sure the border is secure and bringing immigration enforcement to the nation's interior," she said.

She said the bill provides for funding that would allow local law-enforcement authorities to identify and detain the more than 400,000 illegal aliens in the U.S. who have been ordered deported but who disappeared, 85,000 of whom have criminal records.

Named after the late Rep. Norwood, Georgia Republican who introduced the legislation on three occasions, Mrs. Blackburn said the bill clarifies the authority of state and local law-enforcement officers to assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws and provides a means for federal, state and local officers to work together to apprehend, detain and remove illegal aliens.

Mr. Norwood died at his home in Augusta, Ga., in February after a long battle with cancer and lung disease.

Mrs. Blackburn said the act also expands the amount of information available to local law enforcement through the FBI's National Crime Information Center and through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Law Enforcement Support Center.

The bill, she said, also targets cities — such as San Francisco, Houston and New York — that have enacted laws that shield illegal aliens from federal immigration law.

Under the act, the so-called "sanctuary cities" would lose federal funding unless they rescind the policies that prohibit local law-enforcement officials from working with the Department of Homeland Security.

Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, applauded the bill, saying "Americans are waiting for action and commonsense solutions to the problem of illegal immigration.

"This bill provides some necessary improvements to our current immigration laws that will help local and federal law enforcement work together toward the common goal of protecting our communities," he said.

In December 2005, the House passed a watered-down version of the CLEAR Act as part of the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act, giving state and local law-enforcement authority to enforce immigration laws. Other key provisions of the bill were not included and the Senate did not pass a similar bill.