Senate Vote: Police Enforcement of Immigration Laws
Summary: Eliminates any state and local law enforcement policies that prohibit officers from asking individuals about their immigration status
Result: Amendment Rejected
A vote against the amendment was counted as a + vote (in line with LCCR's position)
View individual member votes on this bill by state:
Bill Name: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
Bill Number: S. 1348
Issue: Immigration
Date: 05/24/07
Roll Call No. 177
During consideration of S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Sen. Norm Coleman, R. Minn., offered an amendment that would eliminate state and local law enforcement policies, used by many police departments, which prohibit officers from asking the people they protect and serve about their immigration status.
LCCR opposed the Coleman amendment.
Many police departments have policies of not asking about immigration status because they know, from experience, that doing so interferes with their efforts to maintain public health and safety.
Immigrants who live in fear of the police or other government employees are far less likely to report crimes, seek medical assistance, or otherwise cooperate on matters that affect their communities.
Eliminating such policies would only drive immigrants further underground. It would also encourage racial and ethnic profiling, as individuals – immigrants and citizens alike – who look or sound "foreign" are invariably far more likely to be interrogated about their immigration status.
Result: The Coleman amendment was defeated (48-49).
