1-1 By: Brown, Madla, Harris S.B. No. 279
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 23, 1995; January 24, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 March 8, 1995, rereferred to Committee on Finance; March 20, 1995,
1-5 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-6 following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; March 20, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 279 By: Brown
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the identification of inmates of the Texas Department
1-11 of Criminal Justice and other convicted persons as illegal criminal
1-12 aliens.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
1-15 adding Section 493.015 to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 493.015. IDENTIFICATION OF DEPORTABLE ALIENS. (a) In
1-17 this section, "illegal criminal alien" means an alien who has been
1-18 convicted of a felony and is in the custody of the state and who:
1-19 (1) entered the United States without inspection or at
1-20 any time or any place other than as designated by the United States
1-21 Attorney General;
1-22 (2) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and, before the
1-23 date of the commission of the crime, had failed to maintain the
1-24 nonimmigrant status under which the alien was admitted or to which
1-25 it was changed under Section 248, Immigration and Nationality Act
1-26 (8 U.S.C. Section 1258), or to comply with the conditions of the
1-27 alien's status; or
1-28 (3) is a Marielito Cuban as defined in Section 501,
1-29 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1365).
1-30 (b) The department shall identify those inmates who are
1-31 imprisoned in the institutional division or confined in a transfer
1-32 facility, a substance abuse treatment facility, a state jail felony
1-33 facility, or a county jail awaiting transfer to the institutional
1-34 division and for whom the department is unable to reasonably
1-35 ascertain whether or not the person is an illegal criminal alien.
1-36 (c) In attempting to ascertain whether an inmate is an
1-37 illegal criminal alien, the department may take into account a
1-38 statement of noncitizenship made to the department by the inmate or
1-39 any information in the criminal history record information
1-40 maintained on the inmate, including information developed in
1-41 presentence investigation reports that may reflect place of birth,
1-42 registration with the Social Security Administration, or work
1-43 history.
1-44 (d) The department shall promptly notify the United States
1-45 Immigration and Naturalization Service of any inmate determined by
1-46 the department to be an illegal criminal alien and request the
1-47 assistance of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, if
1-48 necessary, in determining whether or not the person is an illegal
1-49 criminal alien.
1-50 (e) The department shall promptly notify the criminal
1-51 justice division of the governor's office of any inmate determined
1-52 by the department or by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
1-53 to be an illegal criminal alien, and the criminal justice division
1-54 of the governor's office shall apply to the federal government for
1-55 any funds due the state for criminal justice costs incurred with
1-56 respect to an illegal criminal alien.
1-57 (f) Federal funds received for criminal justice costs
1-58 incurred with respect to an illegal criminal alien shall be
1-59 deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
1-60 (g) The department shall cooperate with the Immigration and
1-61 Naturalization Service in implementing an efficient system for the
1-62 deportation of illegal criminal aliens on completion of the
1-63 inmates' sentences or release of the inmates on parole or mandatory
1-64 supervision. The department shall consider:
1-65 (1) designating facilities or units within the
1-66 department as central locations to hold inmates who are illegal
1-67 criminal aliens for the period immediately preceding release on
1-68 parole or mandatory supervision; and
2-1 (2) providing two-way closed circuit communications
2-2 systems and other technology that will assist the state and the
2-3 federal government in ensuring the timely and efficient deportation
2-4 of illegal criminal aliens on the release of those aliens from
2-5 imprisonment or confinement under the authority of the department.
2-6 SECTION 2. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
2-7 by adding Article 2.25 to read as follows:
2-8 Art. 2.25. REPORTING CERTAIN ALIENS TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
2-9 A judge shall report to the United States Immigration and
2-10 Naturalization Service a person who has been convicted in the
2-11 judge's court of a crime and is an illegal criminal alien as
2-12 defined by Section 493.015(a), Government Code.
2-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-19 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-20 * * * * *