The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a state immigration bill modeled on the Texas bill signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. The bill is expected to pass the Oklahoma Senate, and Governor Kevin Stitt is expected to sign it into law.
The Oklahoma bill would create a “impermissible occupation” law that would make entering the state “willfully and without permission … without having first obtained legal authorization to enter the United States” a state crime, The Oklahoman reported on Friday.
Oklahoma Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka) criticized the Biden administration for “failing to secure the border.”
“The failed policies of the Biden administration have turned every state into a border state,” the speaker stated. “Oklahoma should be the last place illegal immigrants want to settle when they cross over the border.”
The local newspaper reported that all 20 Democrat legislators voted against the bill. House Democrat Leader Cindy Munson (D-Oklahoma City) called the bill “a political tactic meant to promote the GOP during an election year.”
While Democrats criticized the bill and said it would have a harmful impact on migrants who have been in the state for decades, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the bill would help his law enforcement efforts to “eliminate Oklahoma’s numerous illegal marijuana grows often run by foreign nationals.”
Like the on-again off-again Texas law, the Oklahoma bill is expected to face legal challenges after it is signed into law by Goveror Stitt.
If the bill becomes the law of the land, it would empower state and local law enforcement officers to arrest and deport migrants who came to Oklahoma illegally. The first violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $500. Repeat offenders would face state felony charges that could land them in prison for up to two years and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
Convicted migrants would be required to leave the state within 72 hours of their conviction or release from custody, the Oklahoman stated.
Oklahoma is one of nearly two dozen states led by Republican governors that has sent highway patrol and National Guard soldiers to the Texas border to support the State’s Operation Lone Star, Breitbart Texas reported last year.