Gregory Bull / AP
Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 | 2:48 p.m.
A bill to stop police in Nevada from helping to enforce immigration law was introduced in the Nevada Senate today, the first time this session that the Legislature has formally addressed new federal efforts to deal with people living in the U.S. illegally.
Senate Bill 223 would prevent state and local police in Nevada from detaining people for, or transferring custody of a person to, federal immigration authorities.
It also stops those same police department from giving information to immigration authorities. The only exception would be giving federal immigration authorities information about a person’s criminal history. Also, under the proposed law, state and local police cannot employ a peace officer to work on immigration issues.
State Sen. Yvanna Cancela, D-Las Vegas, introduced the bill, which was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. No hearings have been scheduled to discuss the bill yet.
While this is the first example of anti-deportation legislation at the 2017 session, it’s not the first time the topic has been addressed.
In a Feb. 13 press release, Senate Republican Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, expressed plans to introduce a bill that would eliminate state funding for local governments that ignore federal law and operate as sanctuary cities. That bill has yet to be introduced.
The issue also came up during the remarks portion of an Assembly floor session on Feb. 16 — early in the national debate sparked when President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries.
In an emotional speech, Assistant Majority Floor Leader Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, spoke about his immigrant mother and how her story was “the story of many who we hear of folks crying out, eager to hear someone who’s actually going to fight for them.”
In addition, legislators in committee hearings have questioned officials from at least two local government agencies, the city of Henderson and Metro police, about the degree to which they cooperate with federal immigration officials and if they received any federal money for that cooperation.
When asked about the introduction of SB 223, Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said he did not believe a similar bill would be soon introduced in the Assembly but that the leadership there would be examining the Senate bill and discussing the issue.
Locally, law enforcement officers don't arrest people on the basis that they're undocumented, but they comply to a federal holding system.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who has noted Las Vegas is not a "sanctuary city," said when someone is arrested here, his or her name is run through federal databases. If the person comes up as being deportable, the agency contacts its federal counterparts and places an additional 48-hour retainer on the inmates after they're set to be released, to give the federal agents an opportunity to take custody of them.
Lombardo said that the federal agents rarely respond because of a lack of resources, adding that holding the inmates longer would be unlawful.