2021 -- H 5652

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LC001757

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND SANCTUARY

STATE ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Morales, Williams, Alzate, Henries, Ranglin-Vassell,
Felix, Batista, Lombardi, and Potter

     Date Introduced: February 23, 2021

     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) The state of Rhode Island declares itself a sanctuary state that welcomes and values

undocumented Rhode Islanders as part of our community.

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

     (3) 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.

     (4) 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, or witnesses to, crimes, seeking basic health services, or attending

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

     (5) State and local participation in federal immigration enforcement programs 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.

     (6) 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.

     (7) This act seeks 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 SANCTUARY STATE ACT

     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 or United States Department of State 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 worship services,

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 and

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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 – Prohibition on enforcing immigration laws.

     (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 such federal

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

federal authority seeks to locate, serve, or apprehend.

     (b) It shall be unlawful for any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency

acting in concert with any state or municipal law enforcement agency, or any agency of the state

or any municipality to:

     (1) Utilize public funds or public resources to enforce federal immigration laws; or

     (2) Allocate any office space, funds, or other public resources to be used by federal

immigration authorities.

     (c) It shall be unlawful for any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency

acting in concert with any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or

any municipality, any courthouse, jail, prison, school or their employees, agents, contractors or any

other person acting under color of authority for any such agency to engage in joint operations with

federal immigration authorities, including but not limited to the provision of enforcement

assistance.

     (d) It shall be unlawful, pursuant to subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section, for any state

or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency acting in concert with any state or municipal

law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or municipality, any courthouse, jail, prison,

school or their employees, agents, contractors or any other person acting under color of authority

for any such agency to:

     (1) Detain any individual for deportation;

     (2) Contact federal immigration authorities, for purposes of immigration enforcement;

     (3) Ask detainees or arrestees their place of birth, proof of citizenship, or immigration

status;

     (4) Provide federal immigration authorities with a list of arrestees or inmates, information

regarding the time of their release, or any other information about the arrests not otherwise made

public;

     (5) Allow federal immigration authorities access to their premises unless presented with an

arrest warrant, issued upon probable cause, naming a specific individual;

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     (6) Share any personal data, bulk or individual, including state-issued IDs, licenses, names,

addresses, dates of birth, fingerprints or biometric information with federal immigration authorities;

or

     (7) Grant federal immigration authorities access to any facial recognition technology used,

utilized or managed by law enforcement;

     (e) Any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency acting in concert with any

state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or municipality, any courthouse,

jail, prison, school or their employees, agents, contractors or any other person acting under color

of authority for any such agency that shares any information specific to any particular individual

with federal immigration authorities shall be required to, within twenty-four (24) hours, inform the

individual(s) whose information was shared that it was shared and for what purpose.

     (f) Every state or municipal law enforcement agency, courthouse, jail, prison and school

shall designate or authorize personnel that shall review the presented judicial warrant and consent

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

     (g) It shall be unlawful for any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency

acting in concert with any state or municipal law enforcement agency, any agency of the state or

any municipality, any courthouse, jail, prison, school or their employees, agents, contractors or any

other person acting under color of authority for any such agency to place peace officers under the

supervision of federal agencies or employ peace officers deputized as special federal officers or

special federal deputies for purposes of immigration enforcement. All peace officers remain subject

to Rhode Island law governing conduct of peace officers and the policies of the employing agency.

     (h) The department of corrections shall not:

     (1) Restrict access to any in-prison educational or rehabilitative programming, or credit-

earning opportunity on the sole basis of citizenship or immigration status, including, but not limited

to, whether the person is in removal proceedings, or immigration authorities have issued a hold

request, transfer request, notification request, or civil immigration warrant against the individual.

     (2) Consider citizenship and immigration status as a factor in determining a person’s

custodial classification level, including, but not limited to, whether the person is in removal

proceedings, or whether immigration authorities have issued a hold request, transfer request,

notification request, or civil immigration warrant against the individual.

     (i) Any person within the state of Rhode Island shall have a right to counsel in matters of

federal immigration defense, regardless of immigration status, to be fulfilled by the office of the

public defender in the event that a federal immigration defendant in Rhode Island has not otherwise

secured the services of an attorney. Fifteen (15) full-time equivalent positions within the

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department of public safety shall be reallocated to the office of the public defender for the purpose

of hiring immigration attorneys to fulfil the purposes of this subsection. The office of the public

defender shall be authorized to reallocate sufficient funds to fill these positions and administer this

program from within the state police budget.

     42-160-3. Limited exception.

     (a) The prohibited right to access 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) Any exception under subsection (a) of this section shall require federal immigration

authorities to provide advance notice of anticipated action to the Rhode Island attorney general, as

the chief law enforcement officer for the state.

     (c) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a Rhode Island law enforcement agency from

asserting its own jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement matters.

     42-160-4. Severability.

     The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its

application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can

be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

     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 SANCTUARY

STATE ACT

***

     This act would designate schools, places of worship and courts as sensitive locations and

would require that a judicial warrant be obtained before federal immigration authorities could be

granted access to those premises to enforce immigration laws. It would also prohibit state and local

law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in enforcing

federal immigration laws, would prohibit agencies of the state from providing personal identifying

information, lists of arrestees, or from contacting federal immigration authorities about

undocumented individuals. It would provide an exemption 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.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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