2020 -- S 2536 | |
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LC004526 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
____________ | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND SANCTUARY | |
STATE ACT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Bell, Quezada, Cano, Crowley, and Nesselbush | |
Date Introduced: February 25, 2020 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. The general assembly makes the following findings and declarations: |
2 | (1) The state of Rhode Island declares itself a sanctuary state that welcomes and values |
3 | undocumented Rhode Islanders as part of our community. |
4 | (2) Immigrants are valuable and essential members of the Rhode Island community. |
5 | (3) A relationship of trust between Rhode Island's immigrant community and state and |
6 | local agencies is central to the public safety of the people of Rhode Island. |
7 | (4) This trust is threatened when state and local agencies are entangled with federal |
8 | immigration enforcement, with the result that immigrant community members fear approaching |
9 | police when they are victims of, or witnesses to, crimes, seeking basic health services, or attending |
10 | school, all to the detriment of public safety and well-being of all Rhode Islanders. |
11 | (5) State and local participation in federal immigration enforcement programs also raises |
12 | constitutional concerns, including the prospect that Rhode Island residents could be detained in |
13 | violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, targeted on the basis of race |
14 | or ethnicity in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, or denied access to education based on |
15 | immigration status. |
16 | (6) Entangling state and local agencies with federal enforcement programs diverts already |
17 | limited resources and blurs the lines of accountability and roles of local, state and federal |
18 | governments. |
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1 | (7) This act seeks to ensure effective policing, to protect the safety, well-being and |
2 | constitutional rights of the people of Rhode Island, and to direct the state's limited resources to |
3 | matters of general concern to state and local governments. |
4 | SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND |
5 | GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
6 | CHAPTER 160 |
7 | RHODE ISLAND VALUES ACT: ENHANCED COMMUNITY PROTECTION IN |
8 | IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION |
9 | 42-160-1. Definitions. |
10 | The following terms have the following meanings: |
11 | (1) "Civil immigration warrant" means any warrant for a violation of federal civil |
12 | immigration law, and includes civil immigration warrants entered in the National Crime |
13 | Information Database. |
14 | (2) "Courts" mean any state or local court. |
15 | (3) "Federal immigration authority" means any officer, employee, or person otherwise paid |
16 | by or acting as an agent of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or United States |
17 | Custom and Border Protection or any division or designee thereof, or any other officer, employee, |
18 | or person otherwise paid by or acting as an agent of the United States Department of Homeland |
19 | Security who is charged with immigration enforcement. |
20 | (4) "Health facilities" means any medical treatment facility, including hospitals, health care |
21 | clinics, or urgent care facilities, doctors' offices, substance abuse treatment facilities or any facility |
22 | that provides medical or mental health care. |
23 | (5) "Immigration enforcement" means and includes any and all efforts to investigate, |
24 | enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law and any |
25 | federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person's presence in, entry, or reentry to, or |
26 | employment in, the United States including, but not limited to, violations of Sections 1259, 1324c, |
27 | 1325, or 1326 of Title 8 of the United States Code (8 U.S.C. §§ 1259, 1324, 1325 and 1326). |
28 | (6) "Judicial warrant" means a warrant based on probable cause and issued by a federal |
29 | judge or a federal magistrate judge that authorizes federal immigration authorities to take into |
30 | custody the person who is the subject of the warrant. |
31 | (7) "Places of worship" means any facility rented, owned or leased where religious services |
32 | or ceremonies take place. This would include, but not be limited to, such events as marriages, |
33 | funerals, and baptisms. |
34 | (8) "Schools" means any public, private or charter school, including independent, district |
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1 | charter schools and mayoral academies, pre-schools and other early learning programs, known and |
2 | licensed daycares, primary or secondary schools and institutions of higher education, as well as |
3 | scholastic or education-related activities or events. |
4 | 42-160-2. Sensitive locations – Prohibition on enforcing immigration laws. |
5 | (a) Rhode Island schools, places of worship, health facilities and courts shall not grant |
6 | access to their premises, for any federal immigration authority to investigate, detain, apprehend, or |
7 | arrest any individuals for potential violations of federal immigration laws, unless the federal |
8 | immigration authority presents a judicial warrant that clearly identifies the individual which the |
9 | federal authority seeks to locate, serve, or apprehend. |
10 | (b) It shall be unlawful for any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency |
11 | acting in concert with any state or municipal law enforcement agency, or any agency of the state |
12 | or any municipality to utilize public funds or resources to enforce federal immigration laws. |
13 | (c) It shall be unlawful for any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency |
14 | acting in concert with any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or |
15 | any municipality, any courthouse, jail, prison, school or their employees, agents, contractors or any |
16 | other person acting under color of authority for any such agency to engage in joint operations with |
17 | federal immigration authorities, including, but not limited to, the United States Immigration and |
18 | Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or the |
19 | Department of Homeland Security (DHS), (collectively, federal immigration authorities) to enforce |
20 | federal immigration laws. |
21 | (d) It shall be unlawful, pursuant to subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section, for any state |
22 | or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency acting in concert with any state or municipal |
23 | law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or municipality, any courthouse, jail, prison, |
24 | school or their employees, agents, contractors or any other person acting under color of authority |
25 | for any such agency to do the following: |
26 | (1) Detain any individual for deportation; |
27 | (2) Contact federal immigration authorities, for purposes of immigration enforcement; |
28 | (3) Ask arrestees their place of birth or for proof of citizenship; |
29 | (4) Provide federal immigration authorities with a list of arrestees; |
30 | (5) Allow federal immigration authorities access to their premises unless presented with an |
31 | arrest warrant, issued upon probable cause, naming a specific individual; |
32 | (6) Share any personal data, bulk or individual, including state-issued IDs, licenses, names, |
33 | addresses, dates of birth, fingerprints and biometric information with federal immigration |
34 | authorities; or |
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1 | (7) Grant federal immigration authorities access to any facial recognition technology used, |
2 | utilized or managed by law enforcement; |
3 | (e) Any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency acting in concert with any |
4 | state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or municipality, any courthouse, |
5 | jail, prison, school or their employees, agents, contractors or any other person acting under color |
6 | of authority for any such agency that shares any information specific to any particular individual |
7 | with federal immigration authorities shall be required to inform the individual(s) whose information |
8 | was shared, that it was shared and for what purpose. |
9 | (f) Every state or municipal law enforcement agency, courthouse, jail, prison and school |
10 | shall designate or authorize personnel that shall review the presented judicial warrant and consent |
11 | to the federal immigration authority's access to the premises. |
12 | 42-160-3. Limited exception. |
13 | (a) The prohibited right to access to sensitive locations established by this chapter shall not |
14 | apply when the federal immigration authority is acting in response to a specific act of terrorism, |
15 | national security threat or when there is the threat of imminent danger of violence to the United |
16 | States. |
17 | (b) Any exception under subsection (a) of this section shall require federal immigration |
18 | authorities to provide advance notice of anticipated action to the Rhode Island attorney general, as |
19 | the chief law enforcement officer for the state. |
20 | 42-160-4. Severability. |
21 | If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is |
22 | held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or application of the chapter, which |
23 | can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of |
24 | this chapter are declared to be severable. |
25 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC004526 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND SANCTUARY | |
STATE ACT | |
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1 | This act would designate schools, places of worship and courts as sensitive locations and |
2 | would require that a judicial warrant be obtained before federal immigration authorities could be |
3 | granted access to those premises to enforce immigration laws. It would also prohibit state and local |
4 | law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in enforcing |
5 | federal immigration laws, would prohibit agencies of the state from providing personal identifying |
6 | information, lists of arrestees, or from contacting federal immigration authorities about |
7 | undocumented individuals. It would provide an exemption in response to a specific act of terrorism, |
8 | national security threat or when there is the threat of imminent danger of violence to the United |
9 | States. |
10 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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