JEFFERSON CITY — A proposal designed to tamp down on illegal immigration in Missouri was presented by gubernatorial candidate Bill Eigel to a state Senate committee Monday.
Eigel, a state senator and Weldon Spring Republican, said his measure “attempts to be proactive in how we deal with illegal immigration in the state of Missouri.†It is a response to the federal government’s failure to protect the “sovereignty of the state of Missouri and the other states of this union,†he said.
The three-part measure would create the state-level crime of “improper entry by an alien,†punishable by a $10,000 fine and a possible removal order.
It would also prohibit the Legislature from funding private or public entities “for the purpose of providing services to aliens unlawfully present in the United States.â€
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And it would bar immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from attending college in Missouri.
During public testimony, just one person spoke in support of the bill, while a few opposed it.
Those opposing the legislation said it may not be deemed constitutional if challenged in court and would exacerbate the state’s worker shortage. They also appealed to principles of human dignity.
Banning undocumented students from attending post-secondary educational institutions would be “inhumane†and “unreasonable,†said Guillermo Villa Trueba, Hispanic outreach manager at the Missouri Catholic Conference.
“The Catholic Church teaches that the more prosperous nations are obliged to the extent they are able to welcome the foreigner in search of security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin,†said Villa Trueba.
“I think in passing this bill, we would be opening up Missouri to a painful and expensive legal battle,†said Gabriele Eissner, a community organizer at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America.
Eigel has been outspoken in his stance against illegal immigration, which he has used a in his campaign.
In February, on the day he formally filed paperwork to compete in the Republican primary for governor, Eigel said he is “going to go after†illegal immigrants.
“I’m going to declare an invasion under Article IV of the state constitution,†he said that day. “That’s gonna activate the National Guard, the Highway Patrol, and every sheriff in this state to get engaged in ‘detain and deport.’â€
The election-year rhetoric mirrors that of other Republican state officials.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson earlier this year traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to show support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security efforts and condemn the federal government’s handling of immigration.
Parson last month also issued an to deploy roughly 200 Missouri National Guard troops to the southern border. Various Republican state lawmakers have filed resolutions to demonstrate support for the governor’s efforts.
Eigel during the Senate hearing Monday linked his proposal to the broader, national immigration debate: “Most members of the committee are very familiar with the invasion that is going on right now as we speak down at our southern border, and really the failures of our federal government led by President Joe Biden to deal with that.â€
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