Missouri bill would offer $1,000 to help turn in undocumented immigrants

By Omar Jimenez and Rachel Clarke, CNN

Jefferson City, Missouri (CNN) — A bill before the Missouri State Senate would introduce $1,000 rewards for people identifying undocumented immigrants who are then taken into custody.

The proposal would make it a state felony for anyone in the US illegally to enter and stay in Missouri. It would create an opportunity for licensed bond agents to become bounty hunters.  And it would create a fund not just for the bounty hunters, but anyone who provides information on an undocumented individual that results in their arrest.

Senate Bill 72 is still in committee and may never become law. But opponents say it’s already spreading fear and changing the lives of both legally residing and undocumented immigrants.

“It’s really hateful,” Ashley Chavarria told CNN. Chavarria is the US-born daughter of two Mexicans who came across the border illegally in the late 1980s and have stayed ever since. She said she’s already seen Latinos, some undocumented, in Missouri’s capital Jefferson City area staying away from English classes and even afraid to collect their children from school since the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the onset of his mass deportation drive.

And the new bill could make things worse, added Chavarria, who works at a social service agency for Hispanic communities made up of both citizens and non-citizens. “It’s actually going to put more fear into people and turn people against each other,” she said.

The bill’s sponsor, freshman state Sen. David Gregory took time to criticize what he said had been misinformation about his plan both when introducing the legislation and in a short interview with CNN.

“I’m hearing things like ‘oh, this places a bounty on people.’ No, it doesn’t” he said.

“Just because we’re dispatching bounty hunters after a warrant has been issued is not a bounty. It’s actually a reward system through a hotline.”

The bill creates a felony of “trespass by an illegal alien” if an undocumented immigrant enters and stays in the state.

The text of the bill talks of setting up a toll-free phone line, email address and online portal where people could — anonymously if they wish — report suspected violators.

If an undocumented immigrant “is arrested and imprisoned…as a result of a report to the information system, the person who made the report shall be eligible to receive a reward of $1,000,” it says.

Gregory insists that incentive is a reward — similar to those offered by local and national law enforcement agencies seeking information on crimes — and not a “bounty.”

Merriam-Webster defines “bounty” as “a reward, premium, or subsidy especially when offered or given by a government: such as “a payment for the capture of or assistance in the capture of an outlaw.”

In the bill, the punishment for violating the “trespass by illegal alien” felony is life imprisonment without parole, though it says someone could be released to the custody of the federal government if they were going to be deported within 24 hours. Gregory, who represents parts of St. Louis, told CNN he had heard opposition to the life term and was discussing it with fellow senators.

A separate bill he introduced said a court may conditionally release a defendant charged with the state trespassing felony during their initial court appearance if it “finds that the defendant is seeking asylum and does not pose a danger to the community.” However, if a “court finds that the defendant is seeking asylum but poses a danger to the community, the defendant shall be denied bail entirely,” and remain in custody throughout the course of their trial, the bill states. The bill would only go into effect if Senate Bill 72 became law.

Gregory emphasized people would only be approached and detained after an investigation finds evidence against them and a warrant is issued by a judge.

“These concerns we’re hearing that bounty hunters are just going to be kicking in doors, that’s illegal. It’s illegal now, it’s illegal under my bill,” Gregory told CNN.

“When I’m hearing other types of harassment concerns or things like normal, everyday citizens walking up and saying, ‘hey, you show me your papers,’ — that’s illegal. That’s illegal today. And it’s illegal under my bill,” he said.

Those concerns were raised by some of the dozens of people who spoke against the bill during a senate committee hearing.

“This bill would not only tear apart families, schools and congregations and communities, but also pit neighbors against one another,” said Yazmin Bruno-Valdez, who introduced herself as a longtime Missouri resident, community advocate and “Dreamer” who was brought to the US as a child and is currently allowed to remain.

Immigration and civil rights attorney Javad Khazaeli told CNN Gregory’s stated intention could be overrun if the bill becomes law.

“When you put bounties on people, you’re incentivizing grabbing people,” he said in an interview. “And when you grab people, bad things happen.”

Khazaeli, who’s based in St. Louis, spent a decade as a federal government lawyer advising officers in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies about immigration law. He was aware of times when local law enforcement officers would seek training on immigration regulations as they targeted a specific safety problem. But even with training, there would almost inevitably be problems, he said.

“We saw issues where local law enforcement officers were arresting Puerto Ricans because they thought Puerto Rico wasn’t part of America. Every time you have any kind of interaction like this, the only possible way for the person on the other end who’s being harassed to get out of it is by showing their papers.”

“Now this is exactly — and I’m not trying to be hyperbolic here — but this is exactly what we had in Nazi Germany,” he added.

That being said, it could be surprising that the lone voice from a member of the public supporting Gregory’s bill in committee came from Rabbi Ze’ev Smason.

Smason, a rabbi in St Louis for 25 years, rejected the comparisons to the Holocaust.

“What exactly were they doing in Nazi Germany? They were turning in neighbors if they had a 16th of Jewish blood within them and then they took them in cattle cars and they exterminated them. That’s what was done in Nazi Germany. Is that what’s being done over here?” he asked.

“I see no reasonable comparison between the two,” he added.

He told CNN it was a matter of justice. “I think people, even though we’re not a border state, are very concerned about illegal immigration … because it’s an abrogation of the law and, in general, a spirit of lawlessness is something that’s destructive to our community and our country,” he said.

Mistakes could be made, he conceded, but he trusted in the judicial system. “I’d like to think that most of the time our police and our courts get it right,” he said.

Lawyer Khazaeli said the publicity around Gregory’s bill has already had a chilling effect, even on immigrants with legal status.

“I’m seeing people who’ve been in this country for decades, legally, terrified,” he said, mentioning one woman from Europe who had been a legal permanent resident for 30 years, now looking to become a citizen because she was afraid of what could happen.

At the state capitol, Gregory said: “My intention is to make sure that we, as a state, can step up … and protect our women and our children and our Missourians from the dangerous immigrants. I’m sorry that that scares them but that is not the intent.”

He said he was optimistic the bill would pass but that it would take time.

If the senate progresses the bill, it will go to the state House of Representatives.

In a statement to CNN, Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson wrote, “I have not heard any enthusiasm from House Republicans about doing any bounty hunter legislation. We are pleased that President Donald Trump is addressing illegal immigration at the federal level, including by signing the Laken Riley Act, which enables states to work with the federal government on immigration.”

A similar bill put forward by the Mississippi Legislature was killed in early February.

That bill had many of the hallmarks of Missouri Senate Bill 72 including: a $1,000 reward for tips that led to the arrest of undocumented immigrants, the creation of a “certified bounty hunter” program, and also the threat of life in prison.

The American Immigration Council estimated there were nearly 70,000 undocumented immigrants living in Missouri. State Attorney General Andrew Bailey said there were up to about 100,000.

They include Chavarria’s parents, who Chavarria said currently have work permits but are also in the process of trying to legalize their status.

“I’ve never seen my parents asking for a handout,” Chavarria said, rejecting some narratives used against migrants.

Chavarria also said she wanted criminals off the streets whatever their citizenship, as did the people she knew. “The right immigrants know that we have to respect a country that we’re not citizens of,” she said. “They’re aware of that and that’s what they do.”

Now with children of her own, she has at times struggled to explain this moment in American politics. They’re 8 and 9 years old.

“They tell me that the kids in school will scream ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’, and I tell them like, well, that’s OK,” she said. “I do try to let them know just to always be proud of who they are,” she explained.

“I don’t go very in depth with them because they don’t understand,” she added.

“The system is way broken,” she said.  “I wish we could put the effort that we’re putting into deporting all these immigrants, I wish that that effort could go into fixing that system, setting it up to where there’s an actual pathway to citizenship or residency,” she told CNN.

But for this bill and this moment, Khazaeli said he and other lawyers were ready.

“If they push this forward, we’re just going to sue them and we’re going to win,” he said.  “They’re going to start arresting people that they have no right to arrest, they’re going to start detaining people that they have no right to detain.”

He said he was concerned that even if the “bounty” part of the bill got dropped, other measures he sees as too extreme could pass.

“This could happen in Missouri, and we’re preparing for that.”

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CNN’s Bonney Kapp contributed to this story.