By Wilson H.B. No. 54 75R351 GWK-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the eligibility of illegal aliens for community 1-3 supervision. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 1-6 amended by adding Section 3h to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 3h. ILLEGAL ALIENS: ELIGIBILITY FOR COMMUNITY 1-8 SUPERVISION. (a) A defendant is eligible for community 1-9 supervision under Section 3, 4, or 5 only if before the voir dire 1-10 examination begins the defendant files a written sworn motion that 1-11 the defendant is not an illegal alien, and the trier of fact enters 1-12 in the verdict a finding that the information in the defendant's 1-13 motion is true. 1-14 (b) The defendant has the burden of proving by a 1-15 preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is not an illegal 1-16 alien. 1-17 (c) In this section, "illegal alien" means an individual 1-18 who: 1-19 (1) entered the United States without inspection or at 1-20 any time or 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 offense for which the defendant is 1-24 being tried, failed to: 2-1 (A) maintain the nonimmigrant status under which 2-2 the defendant was admitted or to which the status was changed under 2-3 Section 248, Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1258); or 2-4 (B) comply with the condition of the defendant's 2-5 alien status; or 2-6 (3) is a national of Cuba who: 2-7 (A) was allowed by the attorney general to come 2-8 to the United States in 1980; and 2-9 (B) at the time of the arrival and at the time 2-10 of the commission of the offense for which the defendant is being 2-11 tried was not an alien lawfully admitted to the United States: 2-12 (i) for permanent or temporary residence; 2-13 or 2-14 (ii) under the terms of an immigrant visa 2-15 or a nonimmigrant visa issued under the laws of the United States. 2-16 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and 2-17 applies to any prosecution in which the voir dire examination 2-18 begins after that date, regardless of whether the offense being 2-19 prosecuted is committed before, on, or after the effective date of 2-20 this Act. 2-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.