By: Brown, Madla S.B. No. 279
Harris, Lucio
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the identification of inmates of the Texas Department
1-2 of Criminal Justice and other convicted persons as illegal criminal
1-3 aliens.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Section 493.015 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 493.015. IDENTIFICATION OF DEPORTABLE ALIENS. (a) In
1-8 this section, "illegal criminal alien" means an alien who has been
1-9 convicted of a felony and is in the custody of the state and who:
1-10 (1) entered the United States without inspection or at
1-11 any time or any place other than as designated by the United States
1-12 Attorney General;
1-13 (2) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and, before the
1-14 date of the commission of the crime, had failed to maintain the
1-15 nonimmigrant status under which the alien was admitted or to which
1-16 it was changed under Section 248, Immigration and Nationality Act
1-17 (8 U.S.C. Section 1258), or to comply with the conditions of the
1-18 alien's status; or
1-19 (3) is a Marielito Cuban as defined in Section 501,
1-20 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1365).
1-21 (b) The department shall identify those inmates who are
1-22 imprisoned in the institutional division or confined in a transfer
1-23 facility, a substance abuse treatment facility, a state jail felony
1-24 facility, or a county jail awaiting transfer to the institutional
2-1 division and for whom the department is unable to reasonably
2-2 ascertain whether or not the person is an illegal criminal alien.
2-3 (c) In attempting to ascertain whether an inmate is an
2-4 illegal criminal alien, the department may take into account a
2-5 statement of noncitizenship made to the department by the inmate or
2-6 any information in the criminal history record information
2-7 maintained on the inmate, including information developed in
2-8 presentence investigation reports that may reflect place of birth,
2-9 registration with the Social Security Administration, or work
2-10 history.
2-11 (d) The department shall promptly notify the United States
2-12 Immigration and Naturalization Service of any inmate determined by
2-13 the department to be an illegal criminal alien and request the
2-14 assistance of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, if
2-15 necessary, in determining whether or not the person is an illegal
2-16 criminal alien.
2-17 (e) The department shall promptly notify the criminal
2-18 justice division of the governor's office of any inmate determined
2-19 by the department or by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
2-20 to be an illegal criminal alien, and the criminal justice division
2-21 of the governor's office shall apply to the federal government for
2-22 any funds due the state for criminal justice costs incurred with
2-23 respect to an illegal criminal alien.
2-24 (f) Federal funds received for criminal justice costs
2-25 incurred with respect to an illegal criminal alien shall be
2-26 deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
2-27 (g) The department shall cooperate with the Immigration and
3-1 Naturalization Service in implementing an efficient system for the
3-2 deportation of illegal criminal aliens on completion of the
3-3 inmates' sentences or release of the inmates on parole or mandatory
3-4 supervision. The department shall consider:
3-5 (1) designating facilities or units within the
3-6 department as central locations to hold inmates who are illegal
3-7 criminal aliens for the period immediately preceding release on
3-8 parole or mandatory supervision; and
3-9 (2) providing two-way closed circuit communications
3-10 systems and other technology that will assist the state and the
3-11 federal government in ensuring the timely and efficient deportation
3-12 of illegal criminal aliens on the release of those aliens from
3-13 imprisonment or confinement under the authority of the department.
3-14 SECTION 2. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
3-15 by adding Article 2.25 to read as follows:
3-16 Art. 2.25. REPORTING CERTAIN ALIENS TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
3-17 A judge shall report to the United States Immigration and
3-18 Naturalization Service a person who has been convicted in the
3-19 judge's court of a crime and is an illegal criminal alien as
3-20 defined by Section 493.015(a), Government Code.
3-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-26 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-27 passage, and it is so enacted.