Opinion ID: 2449049
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: establishment of bureau of immigration

Text: ¶ 21 The plaintiff maintains that H.B. 1804 establishes a Bureau of Immigration in violation of Article 5 § 48, Oklahoma Constitution. Article 5 § 48 provides: The legislature shall have no power to appropriate any of the public money for the establishment and maintenance of a Bureau of Immigration in this State. The plaintiff states that by enacting Article 5, § 48, the framers of Oklahoma's Constitution expressed their intention to leave immigration matters to the federal government because Art. 1, § 1 of Oklahoma's constitution provides that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The plaintiff points to various sections of the Act that he claims are attributes of a bureau of immigration: the Act makes it a felony to transport, conceal, harbor or shelter from detection an alien within the State of Oklahoma, 21 O.S. § 446; state and local governmental agencies and public schools are authorized to expend public funds to create identification documents, 21 O.S. § 1550.42; jails are obliged to expend public funds to make a reasonable effort to determine the citizenship status of persons committed to jail and to seek verification, if necessary, from the federal government's status verification system, 22 O.S. § 171.2(A)and (B); and it creates a new Document Investigation Unit to operate within the Department of Public Safety. Section 10(A) of H.B.1804 (codified at 74 O.S. § 20j) directs the Attorney General to negotiate the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between Oklahoma and the federal government pursuant to title 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g) regarding enforcement of federal immigration laws. [6] Thus, plaintiff argues, H.B.1804 goes far beyond cooperation with federal immigration officers. ¶ 22 The Attorney General responds that Art. 5, § 48 merely prohibits states from regulating immigration. In other words, the State of Oklahoma cannot determine who can enter the country and under what conditions they may remain, but states do have authority to act with respect to illegal aliens where such actions mirror federal objectives and further a legitimate state interest. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 225, 102 S.Ct. 2382, 72 L.Ed.2d 786 (1982). H.B.1804 does not attempt to regulate immigration, which is solely a federal concern, but rather it recognizes that public agencies and persons within the State of Oklahoma were not in compliance with federal immigration law and that it was in the interest of the state to discourage illegal aliens by requiring compliance with federal immigration laws and encouraging cooperation with the federal government. The Attorney General points out that state and local law enforcement officers have the right to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. United States v. Santana-Garcia, 264 F.3d 1188, 1193 (10th Cir. 2001). ¶ 23 The trial judge observed that Oklahoma's Constitution was adopted after the federal bureau of immigration was established, so that the framers of Oklahoma's constitution would have been aware of its provisions. The trial court found that, in 1906, Congress passed an Act to Establish a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and to Provide for a Uniform Rule for the Naturalization of Aliens throughout the United States, 23 Stat. 596. In 1907 Oklahoma adopted its own constitution, which included Art. 5, § 48. The United States Supreme Court previously had rendered two decisions that advised the states that, except under certain circumstances, they no longer could regulate immigration because it was a matter of federal concern. Henderson v. Mayor of New York, 92 U.S. 259, 23 L.Ed. 543 (1875) and Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U.S. 275, 23 L.Ed. 550 (1875). Thus, it was well established by the time Art. 5, § 48 was adopted that the federal government alone had the power to regulate immigration to determine who could enter the borders and under what conditions they might remain there. The trial court's order included detailed background information about Oklahoma history at the time Art. 5, § 48 was incorporated into our constitution, and the trial judge concluded that the framers intended the section to prohibit appropriation of state money to fund a state bureau of immigration with the purpose of attracting additional people to settle in Oklahoma. However, in the instant case, the State of Oklahoma is not attempting to regulate immigration, rather the State of Oklahoma is using a federal database to confirm the immigration status of persons accused of a crime. This activity is in accord with Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting et al., 563 U.S. ___, ___, 131 S.Ct. 1968, 179 L.Ed.2d 1031 (2011), which allowed the State of Arizona to rely solely on the Federal Government's own determination of who is an unauthorized alien, and requires use of the Federal Government's own system for checking alien status. ¶ 24 We agree with the trial judge that H.B.1804 does not create a Bureau of Immigration. The prohibition in Art. 5, § 48 is against the appropriation of public money for establishment of a bureau of immigration. H.B.1804 mandates compliance with federal immigration laws and it seeks to establish cooperation with the federal government. States are permitted to enforce immigration laws. United States v. Santana-Garcia, 264 F.3d 1188, 1193 (10th Cir.2001). There is nothing in Art. 5, § 48 that would prevent the State of Oklahoma from enforcing federal immigration laws. House Bill 1804 does not determine who can enter the country (or the State of Oklahoma) or under what terms those who enter the country may remain, nor is there a scheme of deportation in the Act.