HB0929eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0929 Engrossed LRB097 03748 RLC 43785 b

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is amended by adding Article 124C as follows:

(725 ILCS 5/Art. 124C heading new)

ARTICLE 124C. SMART ENFORCEMENT LAW

(725 ILCS 5/124C-1 new)

Sec. 124C-1. Short title. This Article may be cited as the Smart Enforcement Law.

(725 ILCS 5/124C-5 new)

Sec. 124C-5. Preamble and findings.

(a) The State of Illinois is committed to upholding our criminal laws and in imposing appropriate penalties for those convicted of criminal offenses. In the case of noncitizens of the United States, the consequences of criminal convictions may include removal from the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

(b) In 2007, in enacting Public Law 110-161, 121 Stat. 1844, 2365, Congress provided initial appropriations to "improve and modernize efforts to identify aliens convicted of a crime, sentenced to imprisonment, and who may be deportable, and remove them from the United States once they are judged deportable". ICE has used this funding to create the "Secure Communities" program, through which ICE receives and reviews fingerprints that local police take for criminal suspects upon booking.

(c) Illinois participates in the "Secure Communities" pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement entered into by ICE and the Illinois State Police on November 2, 2009. ICE is implementing the program in counties throughout Illinois and intends to cover the entire nation by 2013.

(d) Contrary to the goal, stated by Congress and affirmed by ICE, of identifying and removing noncitizens convicted of crimes, "Secure Communities" has largely been identifying individuals with no criminal convictions for ICE arrest and removal. Through February 2011, 46.5% of individuals arrested by ICE under "Secure Communities" had no convictions.

(e) "Secure Communities" imposes additional costs upon county jails and other local law enforcement by requiring that the jails hold individuals who may otherwise be released. The costs of these holds are borne by local taxpayers.

(f) By subjecting individuals with no criminal convictions to removal, "Secure Communities" disrupts families and communities, encourages racial and ethnic profiling, burdens taxpayers, and poses harm to our State as a whole.

(g) Because the "Secure Communities" program is straying so far from its stated goals, at significant cost to families and communities, the State must monitor and review the impact of this program to determine whether it is indeed benefiting the people of Illinois.

(h) ICE itself has been unclear and uncertain as to whether counties and local jurisdictions can choose not to participate in "Secure Communities", even if they believe that the program would harm their communities. The State should accordingly enable counties and local jurisdictions to refuse to participate should they choose to do so.

(725 ILCS 5/124C-10 new)

Sec. 124C-10. Participation in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "Secure Communities" Program.

(a) This Section pertains to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "Secure Communities" Program, in which Illinois participates pursuant to a "Memorandum of Agreement Between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Illinois State Police" entered into on November 2, 2009.

(b) The Illinois State Police shall identify a means by which a local law enforcement agency may request to withhold its participation in the "Secure Communities" program, and shall facilitate any such request to the appropriate federal agencies.

(c)(1) Any county participating in the "Secure Communities" program shall submit to the Illinois State Police, in a form and manner to be determined by the Illinois State Police, the following information:

(A) the number of individuals held by the county's jail during each calendar month pursuant to a detainer issued by ICE requesting that the jail hold an individual until ICE takes that individual into its custody;

(B) with respect to those individuals subject to such detainers:

(i) the charge or charges for which the individual was arrested;

(ii) to the extent known by the county, whether the arrest occurred after a traffic stop, after a Terry stop, pursuant to an arrest warrant, or under other circumstances relating to warrantless arrests;

(iii) the charge or charges if any for which the individual was arraigned and prosecuted;

(iv) the disposition of the criminal charge or charges described in clause (iii) of this paragraph (1), and the date of the disposition;

(v) whether bond was posted for the individual, and if so, the date on which bond was posted;

(vi) the length of time (in days) the individual was held in the jail's custody;

(vii) whether ICE took the individual into custody, and if so, the date on which ICE took custody;

(viii) the cost incurred by the county for holding these individuals subject to the ICE detainer beyond the date on which bond was posted or they otherwise became subject to release, and whether the county requested reimbursement for any federal agency to cover expenses arising from the ICE detainers;

(ix) the individual's national origin, if voluntarily reported by the individual, provided that nothing in this reporting requirement shall be construed to require that the county determine or inquire into the national origin of any such individuals, or to authorize any law enforcement agencies to compel such individuals to provide this information;

(x) to the extent known by the county, whether the detainer arose pursuant to the "Secure Communities" program, the ICE Criminal Alien Program, an "immigrant alien query" requested by the arresting law enforcement agency, or other means.

(2) The Illinois State Police shall arrange for the data collected pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) to be made available to the public.

(d) As a condition for its continued participation in the "Secure Communities" program, the State of Illinois shall modify its Memorandum of Agreement with ICE to provide that, in line with ICE's Congressional authorization of identifying "aliens convicted of a crime, sentenced to imprisonment, and who may be deportable," Public Law 110-161, 121 Stat. 1844, 2365 (2007), no Illinois arrest record information regarding any individual may be analyzed by ICE through the "Secure Communities" program unless such individual has been convicted of a criminal offense.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.