2019 -- H 5518

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LC001087

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND VALUES

ACT--ENHANCED COMMUNITY PROTECTION IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

ACTION

     Introduced By: Representative Jean Phillipe Barros

     Date Introduced: February 25, 2019

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. The general assembly makes the following findings and declarations:

     (1) Immigrants are valuable and essential members of the Rhode Island community.

     (2) A relationship of trust between Rhode Island's immigrant community and state and

local agencies is central to the public safety of the people of Rhode Island.

     (3) This trust is threatened when state and local agencies are entangled with federal

immigration enforcement, with the result that immigrant community members fear approaching

police when they are victims of, and witnesses to, crimes, seeking basic health services, or

attending school, all to the detriment of public safety and well-being of all Rhode Islanders.

     (4) State and local participation in federal immigration enforcement programs also raises

constitutional concerns, including the prospect that Rhode Island residents could be detained in

violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, targeted on the basis of race

or ethnicity in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, or denied access to education based on

immigration status.

     (5) Entangling state and local agencies with federal enforcement programs diverts already

limited resources and blurs the lines of accountability and roles of local, state and federal

governments.

     (6) This act seeks to ensure effective policing, to protect the safety, well-being and

constitutional rights of the people of Rhode Island, and to direct the state's limited resources to

matters of general concern to state and local governments.

     SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND

GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 160

RHODE ISLAND VALUES ACT: ENHANCED COMMUNITY PROTECTION IN

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION

     42-160-1. Definitions.

     The following terms have the following meanings:

     (1) "Civil immigration warrant" means any warrant for a violation of federal civil

immigration law, and includes civil immigration warrants entered in the National Crime

Information Database.

     (2) "Courts" mean any state or local court.

     (3) "Federal immigration authority" means any officer, employee, or person otherwise

paid by or acting as an agent of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or United

States Custom and Border Protection or any division or designee thereof, or any other officer,

employee, or person otherwise paid by or acting as an agent of the United States Department of

Homeland Security who is charged with immigration enforcement.

     (4) "Health facilities" means any medical treatment facility, including hospitals, health

care clinics, or urgent care facilities, doctors' offices, substance abuse treatment facilities or any

facility that provides medical or mental health care.

     (5) "Immigration enforcement" means and includes any and all efforts to investigate,

enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law and any

federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person's presence in, entry, or reentry to, or

employment in, the United States including, but not limited to, violations of Sections 1259,

1324c, 1325, or 1326 of Title 8 of the United States Code (8 U.S.C. §§ 1259, 1324, 1325 and

1326).

     (6) "Judicial warrant" means a warrant based on probable cause and issued by a federal

judge or a federal magistrate judge that authorizes federal immigration authorities to take into

custody the person who is the subject of the warrant.

     (7) "Places of worship" means any facility rented, owned or leased where religious

services or ceremonies take place. This would include, but not be limited to, such events as

marriages, funerals, and baptisms.

     (8) "Schools" means any public, private or charter school, including independent, district

charter schools and mayoral academies, pre-schools and other early learning programs, known

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and licensed daycares, primary or secondary schools and institutions of higher education, as well

as scholastic or education-related activities or events.

     42-160-2. Sensitive locations.

     (a) Rhode Island schools, places of worship, health facilities and courts shall not grant

access to their premises, for any federal immigration authority to investigate, detain, apprehend,

or arrest any individuals for potential violations of federal immigration laws, unless the federal

immigration authority presents a judicial warrant that clearly identifies the individual which the

federal authority seeks to locate, serve, or apprehend.

     (b) Only designated or authorized personnel may review the presented judicial warrant

and consent to the federal immigration authority's access to the premises.

     42-160-3. Limited exception.

     (a) The prohibited right to access to sensitive locations established by this chapter shall

not apply when the federal immigration authority is acting in response to a specific act of

terrorism, national security threat or when there is the threat of imminent danger of violence to

the United States.

     (b) If this exception is sought to be involved, the federal immigration authority shall

provide prior notice of anticipated action to the Rhode Island attorney general, as the chief law

enforcement officer for the state.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND VALUES

ACT--ENHANCED COMMUNITY PROTECTION IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

ACTION

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     This act would enhance community protection during federal immigration enforcement

and investigatory actions by identifying certain community locations as "sensitive locations" and

would require that those locations receive a judicial warrant before they grant access to

enforcement agents. It would also provide for exemption to these procedures where there are

certain exigent circumstances.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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