Louisiana Adopts Important Immigration Enforcement Legislation
The Louisiana legislature wrapped up a busy session by enacting sensible new laws aimed at discouraging illegal aliens from settling in the state.
On May 28, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 388, which is modeled on Texas’ well-known law, S.B. 4. S.B. 388 creates a new crime of unlawful entry. Under this provision, state and local law enforcement may arrest and prosecute an alien if he or she has entered the jurisdiction from a foreign nation or from another state without being lawfully present in the United States. The new law also commits Louisiana to share law enforcement resources with other states to maintain physical barriers and surveillance systems to detect and deter illegal activity on the border.
Even though the legislation was signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry, it will not be implemented immediately. Because the law so closely resembles the Texas law, the legislation contains a provision that it will not become effective until a final ruling is issued on S.B. 4.
On the same day that the Louisiana legislature adopted S.B. 388, Governor Landry signed new anti-sanctuary legislation into law. The anti-sanctuary law, S.B. 208, prohibits any jurisdiction within Louisiana from providing sanctuary to illegal aliens. Any local jurisdiction that ignores the statewide ban on sanctuary policies could be sued by Louisiana’s attorney general. Additionally, S.B. 208 requires law enforcement agencies to use their “best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
In enacting these new laws, Louisiana has joined many other states that are fed up with the administration’s lax immigration enforcement policies and have taken lawful steps to protect the security of their own citizens. FAIR’s State and Local Engagement department has been working with activists and local legislators all across the country to assist in these efforts. We encourage FAIR members and supporters to contact our State and Local Engagement department to work with local officials in their own states and communities.