Trump could revive Missouri proposal on deported immigrants
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As President Donald Trump rolls out plans to build a wall on the Mexican border and considers blocking refugees, Missouri lawmakers are trying again to pass a bill aimed at cracking down on deported immigrants who come back and commit crimes.
Under the proposal pitched Thursday by Republican Sen. Mike Cunningham, immigrants who are deported but come back and commit any assault or felony offence would face up to 10 years in prison for “illegal re-entry.” The bill directs those inmates to be transferred to federal immigration authorities as soon as possible.
The proposal died in the House after passing the Senate when it was introduced last year, but Trump’s election could add momentum to such efforts in Missouri and elsewhere.
“It makes it easier for things like this to pass because already the hatred has been brought to the surface,” said Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates Executive Director Aimee Abizera, who fled the genocide in her home country of Rwanda. “People feel like they have a right to do it.”