Oklahoma bill allowing local, state police to deport undocumented residents gets new attention
Click here for updates on this story
Oklahoma (KOCO) — The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into what a proclamation from President Donald Trump could mean for an Oklahoma immigration law that was previously blocked by a federal court.
House Bill 4156 was blocked just days before it was set to be enacted. The controversial bill sparked comment from lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the aisle, but those conversations surfaced again after the DOJ said Trump’s proclamation could change things.
“The president has ‘determined that the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States’ and issues various directives as a result,” said the DOJ letter.
In May 2024, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4156 into law.
“We have to have border security, No. 1,” Stitt said.
The bill would allow local and state law enforcement officers to remove undocumented immigrants from Oklahoma. Stitt acknowledged there may be some harm to Oklahoma families and the economy as a result.
“But it really broke my heart thinking about some of the working families in Oklahoma that were very fearful of this,” Stitt said.
Melissa Lujan, an Oklahoma City immigration attorney, echoed that some residents were concerned about the bill.
“I had one client emphatically say, ‘If this law passes, we are packing our things up, and we are going. We are not living like second-class citizens,'” Lujan said in May. “If I am undocumented right now, am I going to be able to call the police? Because if I call the police, are they going to arrest me for being guilty of a crime?”
Proponents of the bill said it was to slow illegal immigrants in Oklahoma who may commit crimes.
The bill was blocked by a federal court, which said there needed to be a decision on if it was unconstitutional.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed an appeal on the court’s decision.
Law enforcement officials said there was confusion on how this could be carried out.
“We’re all very concerned about it, how we’re going to enforce this, the demand it’s going to put on our personnel. How do you do it without racially profiling, especially the way the law is written?” former Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley said in 2024.
Since Trump began his second term in office, he has signed many executive orders and proclamations. One of those classified the situation at the southern border as an invasion.
Drummond issued a statement Sunday, saying he is thankful for Trump’s efforts and the nation’s border is a direct threat to public safety in Oklahoma. He said the state acted to protect Oklahomans.
“The nation’s porous border under the Biden Administration posed a direct threat to public safety in Oklahoma, so we acted to protect our people,” Drummond said.
The DOJ will now assess whether Trump’s proclamation could have an impact on the bill.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.